Dutch police not complying with labor law in protecting cops

The police have not complied with the legal requirements to protect police officers for over a decade, according to research by Nieuwsuur. The Labor Inspectorate has reprimanded the police organization on this point several times, including recently, the program discovered.

Like all employers, the police are legally obliged to map out the risks their employees face in advance and draw up a plan to prevent accidents, damage, and illness where possible. After the police reorganization in 2013, when the police were incorporated into a national organization, this fell by the wayside. In 2022, the Labor Inspectorate reprimanded the police for not completing these Risk Inventory and Evaluations (RI&E), according to internal documents Nieuwsuur saw.

Since then, the police have mapped out risks within the police buildings, but this is still not done for the various police functions on the street. Officers still face various forms of violence, loud noises, or dangerous substances, for example, without proper prevention and action plans in place, according to the program.

That is very worrying, said Ramon Meijerink, chairman of the police union ACP. “Police officers must be able to trust that their employer is doing everything possible to ensure that police officers can do their work in a healthy way.”

The police told Nieuwsuur that a lot of work has been done since 2023 and, according to the current planning, the RI&E should be completed in 2026. However, according to the program, a recent letter from the Labor Inspectorate to the police management shows that the documents submitted so far do not meet the requirements.

Several employees and former employees told Nieuwsuur that the police management is only focusing on reducing absenteeism and supporting sick officers, not preventing cops from becoming injured or ill. “We have known for years that hearing protection for officers is inadequate. Officers still suffer hearing damage every year. Unfortunately, many cases are completely unnecessary,” one employee said as an example. Another said: “Officers who went on holiday in their free time had drug dogs at Schiphol on their shoes because they had been unprotected at drug labs.”

Loes Thissen, chair of the police’s Central Works Council, acknowledged that the RI&Es are not in order yet, but stressed that the police do give prevention a lot of attention. “I remember a time when the fire extinguisher was still used as a coat rack or the emergency exit as storage. Much has been addressed and improved in recent years. There are numerous courses for employees. In addition to the mandatory inventory, a lot is happening in this area.”

The Labor Inspectorate declined to comment because this is an ongoing enforcement procedure. “It is now up to the police to take action on this,” a spokesperson told the program.