Slight drop in incidents of violence against police officers last year

Last year, 12,265 police officers were confronted with aggression or violence during the course of their duties. That is slightly less than in the previous three years but still “unacceptably high,” said Henk van Dijk, the manager of the Voilence Aginast police Officials program.

The incidents of violence and aggression against police officers increased significantly in 2020 and have remained at that high level since. According to Van Dijk, these incidents have “a major impact” on police officers. “The hardening in society seems to be reflected in these figures.

Cops most often faced insults last year, with 5,543 recorded incidents. Over 1,000 police officers reported some form of assault. There were also 152 attempts at aggravated assault, 111 attempted manslaughter incidents, and 11 attempted murders.

The police also specifically mentioned groups of young people wearing balaclavas and throwing dangerous fireworks at police officers during demonstrations, around football matches, and over New Year’s. Last year, there were 142 incidents of people throwing fireworks at cops, compared to 95 in 2022. “Throwing highly explosive fireworks at people is attempted manslaughter,” Van Dijk said.