Security details for people under threat must be professionalized: Committee
The services responsible for the security of people who are being threatened are so busy that they do not have time to improve their working methods. Therefore, this work must be prioritized and further professionalized, concluded a special committee led by former civil servant Gertjan Bos. The current Surveillance and Security system is about twenty years old and was established after the murder of Pim Fortuyn.
The committee made several recommendations. The system must become more flexible, deal better with information, and be better able to deal with new threats. It must be taken into account that more people will have to be protected because violence occurs more often and larger groups of people are at risk of becoming victims. The committee emphasized that there must be appreciation for the people who have done their job as well as possible in recent years. "A great demand has been made on the professionalism, loyalty, and improvisation of officials within the system."
According to the committee, the system should be given a larger workforce and be better managed. That would make a major reorganization unnecessary. Who qualifies for protection must be made clearer, as does how they are protected. And those who need to be secured must be better supported and informed.
Caretaker Minister of Justice and Security Ferdinand Grapperhaus sent Bos's investigation to parliament on Wednesday. In a letter accompanying the report, he said he would provide a substantive response later, likely in November. He did, however, promise that a task force will be set up to look at how lessons can be learned from Bos's research.
The task force will become part of a new consultation, the Landelijke Vierhoek. This is a consultation between organizations that are responsible for monitoring threatened persons. These are the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV), the chief of the National Police, and the commander of the Koninklijke Marechaussee. The Vierhoek was also a recommendation of the Bos committee.
