NCJ Number
140033
Date Published
1992
Length
132 pages
Annotation
The enforcement of environmental legislation and the cooperation among the police, prosecutors, and local governments on this subject in the Netherlands were examined by means of a review of documents and interviews with 195 police and other officials.
Abstract
Results revealed that during the past year the enforcement of environmental laws has been in a state of flux. Cooperation between the police and local governments has been initiated, increased, and improved. More priority has been given to the enforcement of environmental laws. In addition, the organization and infrastructure for enforcement is in place, and tasks and responsibilities are steadily becoming interactive. Moreover, projects are being initiated, officials appointed, and finances made available. Nevertheless, cooperation is still being hindered by fears of loss of autonomy as well as by distrust and lack of insight into other organizations. Agencies tend to be poorly informed of each other's activities, resulting in duplication of effort. Furthermore, consultation is often weak, unstructured, inefficient, and restricted to local levels. Another problem is the lack of policy, directives, and monitoring by police managers. Thus, environmental enforcement is still in the developmental stage, and managerial direction is needed. Figures, attached methodological information, and 40 references