Police blame hardening of society for 9% increase in use of force

The police used more force last year than the year before, according to figures released on Wednesday. Officers were deployed over 2.6 million times last year. In 25,163 of these incidents, the police used force, an increase of nearly 9 percent. The police blame the hardening of society and the increase in the number of deployments.

The majority of cases, nearly a third, involved police officers using force in connection with arrests. The police used substantially more physical force, which rose from 24,300 in 2024 to 26,502 last year. This includes arrests at demonstrations, explained Corry van Breda, the police portfolio holder responsible for the use of force.

Earlier this month, the police also reported that citizens used more violence against police officers last year. “Our actions are always related to the behavior of others,” said Van Breda.

In most police units, the number of incidents in which cops used force rose slightly. Especially in Rotterdam and Oost-Brabant, officers used more force in 2025 than a year earlier. In Rotterdam, the number of cases in which the police used violence rose by nearly 42 percent. In Oost-Brabant, it increased by approximately 15 percent.

The use of police dogs, stun guns, spit masks, and the extendable baton all increased last year compared to 2024. The police are currently looking into new ways to use force, especially for the riot police dealing with violent demonstrations. Trials are underway with a larger canister of pepper spray and with a tear-inducing agent in the water of a water cannon. Police union ACP recently called for the accelerated introduction of these new weapons.

There were in-depth investigations into 1,686 cases in which the police used force last year. In 369 of those cases, the investigators concluded that the use of force did not comply with the police regulations. In 15 cases, a sanction was imposed, including two conditional dismissals.

Van Breda pointed out how small those numbers are compared to the total police deployment. “A great deal is simply going well,” Van Breda said. “And whether things do not go well, we take it seriously and learn from it.”