car theft

Amsterdam is still the city in the Netherlands with the highest crime figures, according to newspaper AD's annual crime monitor Misdaadmeter. Neighboring municipality Diemen is catching up to the Dutch capital, moving from the 26th most unsafe municipality in 2017 to the 8th last year. Limburg counts four municipalities in the top 10 least safe, AD reports.

A 21-year-old man was arrested for involvement in the murder of 51-year-old Henk Baum from Nistelrode. Baum, who had a criminal record, was gunned down in his car in the Noord-Brabant town of Schaijk on March 22nd. 

The suspect was already in custody on suspicion of involvement in several cases of arson and an explosion in the Oss area in early October. He was arrested in his cell in the Middelburg Penitentiary Institution on Friday, the police announced on Monday. 

In the first six months of this year, the number of passenger cars stolen in the Netherlands dropped by 11 percent, but the number of motorcycles stolen increased by 8 percent, according to the foundation for tackling vehicle crime AVc, ANP reports. 

The number of car thefts dropped by 5.8 percent last year compared to 2014, but the number of motorcycle and scooter theft increased by more than 5 percent, according to figures from the foundation for tackling vehicle crime AVc.

The number of car thefts was at an all time low in 2014. In the year 2000, 25 187 cars were reported stolen, last year there were only 10 712. That is a decrease of 57 percent. There was a decrease in theft of almost all vehicle types, with scooters being the only exception (1 percent increase)

In the last six months, car theft has dropped 4.4 percent compared to the same period last year, to a total of 5,492. The Anti-Car Theft Foundation (Stichting Aanpak Voertuigcriminaliteit) brings it down to the intensification of co-operation in the fight against car thieves, the NOS reports.