Dutch crime figures much higher than reported: trade unions
The number of crimes committed in the Netherlands is much higher than reported by the authorities, because many people feel that reporting a crime is not worth it, according to unions FNV and CNV, among others. They call for a new and independent investigation into crime figures in the Netherlands, ANP reports.
"Many people have become cynical, they do not file a police report because nothing happens afterwards", FNV director Ynstse Koenen said. "Understandable, since governments consecutively made severe budget cuts on the entire criminal justice chain." Due to the low willingness to report, crimes and offenses remain "under the radar", according to the unions. This means that policy is made based on unreliable figures, he said, according to the news wire.
On Tuesday the unions will hand the parliamentary committee on Justice and Security a petition on behalf of them, 32 works councils and the central works council of the judicial institutions service DJI. In this petition they ask for an independent investigation by the Netherlands Court of Audit, because the reliability of scientific organization WODC is under question after it was revealed in December that to officials at the Ministry of Justice and Security had influence on the results of the WODC's investigations.
Figures published by the WODC last year show that fewer crimes were registered and fewer suspects were arrested in 2016 than in 2015. Statistics Netherlands and the National Police published similar figures last week. But these figures only involve registered crimes - crimes in which a police declaration was filed. Koenen calls these figures "the tip of the iceberg".
