NCJ Number
53089
Date Published
1978
Length
27 pages
Annotation
AN OVERVIEW OF CRIME RATES, VICTIMIZATION, CRIME REPORTING, AND POLICE-PUBLIC RELATIONS IN HOLLAND IS PRESENTED.
Abstract
THE DISCUSSION DRAWS ON OFFICIAL POLICE, COURT, AND CORRECTIONS STATISTICS; DATA FROM ANNUAL VICTIMIZATION SURVEYS CONDUCTED BY THE RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTER OF THE DUTCH MINISTRY OF JUSTICE; AND A STUDY OF PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD CRIME AND THE POLICE. STATISTICS FOR 1965 THROUGH 1975 SHOW THAT CRIME, PARTICULARLY PROPERTY CRIME AND VANDALISM, HAS BEEN INCREASING IN THE NETHERLANDS. THERE HAS BEEN SOME INCREASE IN VIOLENT CRIME, ALTHOUGH NOT IN ITS MOST SERIOUS FORMS. CRIME RATES ARE TWICE AS HIGH IN LARGE CITIES AS IN THE REST OF THE COUNTRY. BOTH OFFENDERS AND VICTIMS ARE MOST LIKELY TO BE YOUNG URBAN MALES. THE GAP BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF CRIMES KNOWN TO THE POLICE AND THE NUMBER CLEARED IS WIDENING. THE 1976 VICTIMIZATION SURVEY (SAMPLE OF 10,000 DUTCH CITIZENS) FOUND THAT ONE PERSON IN SIX HAD BEEN THE VICTIM OF A CRIME. IN TERMS OF PERSONAL INJURY AND FINANCIAL LOSS, MOST VICTIMIZATIONS WERE NOT VERY SERIOUS. DUTCH CITIZENS DO NOT REPORT EVERY CRIME TO THE POLICE, AND THE POLICE DO NOT ALWAYS TAKE ACTION WHEN CRIMES ARE REPORTED. CITIZENS RESENT THE FAILURE OF POLICE TO TAKE ACTION AND TEND TO FEEL THAT POLICE PROTECTION IS LACKING AND THAT GREATER POLICE PRESENCE IS NEEDED. TO A DEGREE, BEING VICTIMIZED CAUSES PEOPLE TO LOSE CONFIDENCE IN THE POLICE AND MAKES THEM LESS LIKELY TO REPORT CRIMES. OVERALL, THE PUBLIC'S WILLINGNESS TO COLLABORATE WITH POLICE IN CRIME-RELATED MATTERS IS RATHER LOW. CRIMINAL JUSTICE OFFICIALS IN HOLLAND SHOULD NOT TAKE THE RELATIVELY LOW LEVEL OF VIOLENT CRIME AS JUSTIFICATION FOR BRUSHING ASIDE THE PUBLIC'S CONCERN WITH CRIME. INSTEAD, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES SHOULD COLLABORATE WITH CITIZENS AND WITH OTHER SOCIAL AGENCIES TO DEAL WITH THE KINDS OF CRIME WHICH, ALTHOUGH LABELED PETTY, ADVERSELY AFFECT THE QUALITY OF LIFE. SUPPORTING DATA AND A LIST OF REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (LKM)