Dutch police registered a record 142,000 reports about disturbed persons last year

In 2023, the Dutch police registered a record 141,759 reports of persons with disturbed behavior. Despite the record, the police said the reports increased only slightly - by 2 percent - compared to 2022, De Telegraaf reports.

“The figures are significant,” Alfred Fokeringa, the police officer responsible for care and safety, told the newspaper. “But we see the enormous increases of recent years leveling off.” In 2014, there were around 60,000 reports about people showing strange behavior. That increased to 100,000 in 2019 and then to 138,810 in 2022.

According to Folkeringa, many of the reports are due to a relatively small group of about 10,000 people who come into contact with the police multiple times. The police are working with the GGZ mental health services, Care and Safety Homes, and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) to offer this group more support.

Through this lifetime approach, the authorities monitor people who regularly come into contact with the police due to disturbed behavior for as long as necessary. They also offer support and opportunities to participate in society. The people currently in the program are already subject to fewer police reports. “Guidance is often more useful than repression,” Folkeringa said.

It’s also helping the authorities, Folkeringa said. “We know how to find each other better and approach each other better about each other’s tasks.” According to him, the approach absolutely played a role in the increase in reports being so slight last year. “We are on the right track.”

The police spend a lot of their time on people showing disturbed behavior, Folkeringa said. “But that is also part of our job, just like supervising demonstrations and football matches.”

He hopes the government will continue to give this issue high priority. “It requires choices for more housing, admission places, safe beds, financing, and an approach to the waiting lists. In addition, we have shortages in the labor market.”

Last year, the government announced it would push 59 million euros extra into intensifying cooperation between the healthcare, social, and security domains.