Police chief wants tasers for cops after Rotterdam violence

National Police chief Erik Akerboom is calling on the government to equip police officers with tasers. An incident in Rotterdam last week, in which a cop was knocked out by a member of a wedding procession, is not an isolated incident, according to the police chief. "As the police, we must increasingly enforce authority. People do not want to be corrected", he said to the Telegraaf.

Violence against police officers infuriates Akerboom, he said to the newspaper. It is time for politicians to take action. Two years of experiments in various police regions showed that a taser is an effective, non-lethal option for cops. But despite this, no decision has been made on whether or not to give this option to officers, Akerboom said. "It is taking too long. I am annoyed by this. Politicians must finish it now. It is enough. Certainly after the recent series of major incidents of violence against police officers."

In addition to the police unions, Akerboom is also receiving emails from frustrated police officers, he said. "Their frustration is my frustration. We recently figured it out: a police officer is attacked more than once per hour. We are in a very different atmosphere than ten years ago. The violence seems irreversible."

So far this year there's been over 5,100 incidents of violence against police officers in the Netherlands.