In an explanation of the shortages, the National Police emphasizes that politicians and society not only expect more police officers to take to the streets, but also that a firm fist is made against organized and subversive crime and that more attention is paid to digital crime. . However, considerably more money is going to the police: the budget for this year amounts to 6.4 billion euros, more than a billion more than in 2016.
Aspirants
The police combat the shortages as much as possible by training as many new officers as possible. There are always about 4500 trainees in training. If operational strength is back in order in 2025, the number of applicants will fall to approximately 4,000.
Recruitment of young agents is still possible. “The police are a popular employer. Many people want to work for the police and finding new colleagues is not yet a problem despite a tight labor market. However, a strict selection and intensive, multi-year police training take time. The training capacity will be maximized in the coming years. utilized.”
Research
The figures also show that some police districts have a serious shortage of detectives. The largest shortage occurs in the Stad-Utrecht district, where there are 31 vacancies (27 percent) out of a formation of 114 detectives. The districts of The Hague-Centrum and Drenthe also have 19 and 17 percent vacancies for detectives this year. Calculated across the country, this deficit is more than 7 percent.
Municipalities and citizens regularly complain about a shortage of community officers, but the figures do not show this. Nationally, with 3565 officers, there is even a surplus of nine officers this year. Moreover, it is not visible that local police officers are often the first to be deployed to fill gaps that fall elsewhere in the police organization. For example, community police officers are deployed in the riot police, in incidents that require urgent action by the police and to monitor and secure criminal processes and threatened persons. This puts pressure on the much desired ‘eyes and ears’ on the street, according to the National Police.
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