NCJ Number
140688
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 39 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1991) Pages: 22-26
Date Published
1991
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Some community relations techniques adopted by the Dutch police may be applicable to the inner cities of the United States.
Abstract
To facilitate understanding of the community relations techniques adopted by the Dutch police, this discussion reviews the structure of the Dutch police and addresses police discretion in administering the law as well as the narcotics situation in the Netherlands. The basic reorganizational change now planned for the Netherlands involves recasting the 148 municipal police forces into a new structure which consists of 25 regional police units and one national police unit. The intent of this reorganization is to bring the police closer to the citizens, help control crime, and further improve the quality of police work. A plan of action has been developed to help minorities deal with the law as well as with health, education, and employment issues. To overcome alienation on the part of the citizenry, the police have begun to decentralize and to mix with the public.