Police can't handle cyber crime, financial investigations: Ex-cop

The Dutch police is not at all able to combat serious crime effectively, according to former detective Michiel Princen. He says that there is "a lack of intelligence" in the detective force, NRC reports. Princen used to work at the financial investigations department of the Amsterdam police. He left the force last year after ten years of employment in total disappointment with the lack of effectiveness of the police. He wrote a book about his experiences titled De gekooide recherche (The caged detective). According to Princen he noticed that "the level of the detective force is just too low. And as a result, the quality." There is an "old-boys atmosphere" in the work place because too many chiefs come forth from their own ranks. "The vast majority keeps working to retirement, the lifetime employment is cherished." Princen states that only about 20 percent of all detectives i the police are actually working, the rest of them being on leave or sick. Due to capacity constraints and lack of efficiency, the detectives usually do nothing with the "ready files" that police get from the internal fraud and security departments of large companies, banks and insurance companies. The same applies to reports of Nigerian email scammers, phishing, acquisition fraud, bankruptcy fraud and subsidy fraud. "The arguments not to do something are numerous and win in consultation and in the workplace with eyes closed to the arguments to do it." He also believes that the current reorganization int a national police force will not solve anything. "This reorganization makes things worse for the time being. The police organization is completely soured and still more focused inward that it already was." According to deputy police chief Ruud Bik, Princen's book is consistent with problems that the police already identified and addressed. He calls the book penetrating, though the findings are not representative of the overall detective force. "We consider De gekooide recherche as a valuable book. In terms of content the findings deliver no real surprises. That signal senders like Princen meet resistance within the traditionally closed police culture, is widely known. With the formation of the National Police a cultural shift became achievable - even at this point - from the outset an essential ambition. In this regard our corps book steady progress and De gekooide recherche motivates us to continue to invest in this." Bik said in a first reaction to the book.