Amsterdam considering volunteers to solve years-long police shortage
The Amsterdam city council thinks that city reservists can help compensate for the years-long shortage of police and enforcement officers in the Dutch capital. Under the heading ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,’ the CDA faction advocated for setting up volunteers to police minor violations. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema is optimistic about the idea, and it got support from the entire city council, except for SP, Parool reports.
Amsterdam has a huge number of rules intended to keep the city clean and safe, but not enough enforcement officers to enforce them. So let Amsterdam city reservists help the professional officers, CDA faction leader Rogier Havelaar proposed in the city council on Thursday.
“It is about being a society in which we can address each other on attitude and behavior,” Havelaar said. “I am convinced that voluntary city reservists can be of great value in supporting supervisors and enforcers. I see them as a supplement, comparable to the volunteer fire brigade or the reservists of Defense.”
He proposed starting with a trial with five reservists to examine the costs involved, what reservists should enforce and how, and what is the minimum effort for a volunteer to contribute something useful. Ultimately, Havelaar hopes for an enthusiastic brigade of dozens of Amsterdammers that will focus on addressing and preventing minor violations.
Mayor Halsema was enthusiastic about the proposal. “There is a major shortage and that needs to decrease. I have said before that I want to embrace creative ideas. This is such a positive idea to counteract capacity shortages,” she said.
