Half of the Dutch rarely, or never, see the police in their own neighborhood

More than half of the Dutch said that they rarely or never see the police in their own neighborhood. According to figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS), about 41 percent rarely see police near their homes, while 13 never do.

The data is based on a deeper analysis of its 2021 Security Monitor that was published in March. Two out of ten in the Netherlands are dissatisfied or even very dissatisfied with the visibility of the police in their own neighbourhood.

On the other hand, more than three in ten Dutch people are satisfied or very satisfied with police presence. Nine percent of survey respondents say they often see the police in their own neighbourhood, 36 percent indicate that the police are sometimes visible, and another 36 percent say they are not satisfied or dissatisfied with the visibility of the police. Twelve percent have no opinion about it.

City residents are generally more satisfied with the visibility of the police than people in the countryside. Statistics Netherlands recorded the highest level of satisfaction in the Amsterdam regional police unit, where 40 percent are either satisfied or very with how many police officers they see in their neighbourhood. The Zeeland/West-Brabant region has the lowest satisfaction rate, at 28 percent.

The survey was completed by more than 173,000 people aged 15 or older.