Netherlands crime reports continue steady decline

The number of crimes registered in the Netherlands declined to under one million last year, according to figures from Statistics Netherlands. This is in line with the downward trend in the crime rate over the past years. The police registered over 960 thousand crimes in the Netherlands last year. That is a 26 percent decline compared to the 1.3 million crimes registered in 2007. According to Statistics Netherlands, this decline can be seen in almost all types of crimes. Vandalism and crimes against public order showed the biggest decrease, dropping by almost half since 2007. The total number of suspects registered fell by more than 40 percent since 2007. In 2007 a total of 497 thousand persons were registered suspects of a crime. Last year there were 284 thousand suspects, involving about 196 thousand different persons. A number of people were suspects in more than one crime. The number of juvenile suspects dropped by more than half between 2007 and 2015. In 2007 there were 53 thousand suspects under the age of 18. Last year there were 22 thousand. The declining number of suspects can also be seen in the number of cases that end up with the Public Prosecutor and in court. Last year the Public Prosecutor handled over 205 thousand cases, 25 percent less than in 2007. A total of 103 thousand cases ended up in court, almost 20 percent less than in 2007.