Tuesday, 2 June 2015 - 08:51
Police plagued by financial problems; mayors get more power
The National Police are dealing with financial problems that are even bigger than has been recognized up until now. The force management are therefore planning to drastically change course, with measures including giving mayors more power in the police.
This is according to the "Reassessment Realization Plan Nation Police", a yet unpublished police memorandum, NOS reports.
The memorandum states that the National Police is in a very bad position financially due to cutbacks and reorganizations. Half a billion euros will have to be saved a year - more than twice as much as originally thought. The cost of major reorganization has also doubled to 460 million euros.
Another reason for financial concern is that there are too many people employed at the National Police. For years the Police Academy took in too many new students due to pressure from politicians. At the start of the National Police in 2013, the police had 2,500 too many employees. That has now been reduced to 1,500, but the police do not get extra money for these extra employees Their salaries have to come from the police's own reserves.
The police employees are also complaining because the reorganization - which was started in 2013 when the 26 police forces were changed into one national organization with a central leadership in The Hague - is still not finished. The IT and business operations are still not in order.
The force management has therefore drawn the conclusion that drastic changes have to be made. For them the most important areas are maintaining the level of performance, improving the welfare of employees and getting the business operations in order. To help with these goals, the police plan to give mayors more of a say about what crimes the police should pay more attention to in their regions. They also find it very important to finally complete the staffing reorganization this year, hoping that this will restore peace in the organization.