NCJ Number
73439
Journal
Deviance et societe Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1979) Pages: 345-354
Date Published
1979
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Effective civilian control over the police has not been entirely accomplished even in a democratic country such as the Netherlands, where the police is subjected to a variety of political, legal, and administrative controls.
Abstract
Unlike countries where, according to Amnesty International, abuses of police power are everyday occurrences, in the Netherlands, instances of flagrant abuse of police power and police corruption make newspaper headlines. The Dutch police operates under a complex, often overlapping system of controls and restraints, exercised by national, regional, and municipal civilian jurisdictions. This system of consists of a priori political and administrative guidance and a posteriori controls, including monitoring by an independent judicial authority. The authorities to which the police is accountable issue guidelines on police objectives and tasks within the limits prescribed by law. To ensure compliance with the provisions of the law and with the guidelines issued by the competent authorities, the Dutch police is organized like a bureaucracy. The Minister of Justice and the Attorney General exercise political-administrative control over the police as part of the a priori restraints. Members of the criminal justice system exercise a posteriori control over the actions of the poice including citizen's complaints of alleged police misconduct. In practice, all these political, administrative, legal, and judicial controls over the police are extremely loose and ineffective. While operating strictly within the law, the Dutch police still enjoys broad discretionary powers, without which no effective law enforcement would be possible. The guidelines issued by the various authorities on police management and operations are often vague and seldom known to police officers. Police reforms are currently being considered which would eliminate the existing discrepancies between the theoretical subordination of the police to civilian authorities and law enforcement practices. Members of the Dutch police still have an isolationist mentality, an exaggerated sensitivity to outside criticism, and a lack of understanding of, and empathy with the people they have a mandate to serve. Further reforms are needed to make the Dutch police more accountable, more democratic and more socially integrated, with closer community ties.