Education Master of Crisis and Public Order Management: thorough preparation for crises now and in the future Written on Friday, March 14, 2025 A crisis or a large-scale incident can threaten public order and security. In preventing and managing these crises and incidents, it is crucial to involve experienced crisis managers. One such crisis manager is Gonny van Kuijck, who completed the Netherlands Police Academy’s Master of Crisis and Public Order Management. She is now a very experienced crisis manager and even better prepared for future crises. ‘To anyone working in crisis management, I’d say: Take this master’s programme! It will really enrich your job.’ Large numbers of visitors, high-risk football matches, hospital evacuations, large demonstrations, dangerous conflict situations in the street… crisis managers may have to deal with all sorts of incidents of this kind. Managing those incidents properly calls for several things: thorough preparation, good multidisciplinary cooperation, and professional guidance. All these are what the Master of Crisis and Public Order Management provides. Equipped with the knowledge gained through this course, safety and security specialists will be even better fitted to contribute to the protection of public order and security. Specialist That is exactly what Gonny van Kuijck had in mind when she embarked on the programme. Van Kuijck has worked for the police for 41 years, and has been an operational specialist B at the Conflict and Crisis Management Team (Team Conflict- en Crisisbeheersing, TCB) in her police unit for a number of years now. Roles before that include Contingency Coordinator (Calamiteitencoördinator, CaCo) at the Combined Control Room. This experience meant she was already well used to thinking on her feet and liaising with the fire and ambulance services during incidents. The crisis management scene ‘As a crisis management specialist you really have added value if you’re familiar with the crisis management scene. That’s definitely something this course has provided. When you know the underlying research, you’re even more aware of the political and administrative force fields at work. And of the strength of multidisciplinary cooperation. The courses in our master’s programme included public order management, information management, risk assessment, and ethics. We also carried out various assignments, some at the international level. This teaches you to look at risks and safety/security from a different perspective.’ Enrichment Van Kuijck is very happy about the composition of her class. Her fellow students came from all kinds of organizations in Dutch society, such as the Ministry of Defence, the Regional Medical Assistance Organization (Geneeskundige Hulpverleningsorganisatie in de Regio, GHOR), the safety regions, and the Port of Rotterdam. But her class also included people working at the fire service, a grid management company, and a hospital. ‘It was a really enriching experience to have discussions bringing in all these different perspectives.’ ‘While we were doing the master’s, there was always someone from the group who was involved with an immediate crisis or disaster. For example, in 2020, a container ship lost 270 containers north of the West Frisian Islands, which caused an ecological disaster. One of the people in my group worked at the Groningen Safety Region. Through her we experienced the management of that crisis first-hand, and we were able to contribute ideas through her when necessary. We also gained more insight into this crisis situation through one of our other classmates, the port expert.’ Police perspective In crisis teams it is important to reach a joint picture, decision, and judgement. The aim is to manage the crisis jointly, taking account of all parties’ interests. For Van Kuijck, the most important lesson of the course was to set aside her police perspective. ‘As the police, we’re apt to think we’re in charge of everything, but of course we aren’t. Take the evacuation of the VU Medical Centre in Amsterdam a few years ago, for example. One of the police’s jobs was to help evacuate the patients. In that sort of situation, we’re quick to start thinking: ‘Ok, so first we’ll evacuate the accident and emergency department, then ward A, then ward B, etc’. But that’s absolutely not our decision to make – it’s up to the hospital.’ ❛❛ In the master’s, we learned very clearly who is administratively responsible for what. Knowing that really improves multidisciplinary cooperation. In addition, you’re in a far better position to advise your own organization. Gonny van Kuijck Operational Specialist Managing flows of visitors The better the preparations, the less police deployment will be necessary. That is a principle that Van Kuijck and her colleagues apply in their line of work, in the multidisciplinary preparations for high-risk football matches, for instance. Organizational measures, such as separating supporters of opposing teams and setting up fan zones, really prove their worth. ‘It is crucial to understand people’s motivations, but also the composition of the group, and how they might react during an evacuation. We learned about how the human brain works and what responses people may show, so you can take these into account. Because if people start to panic, they often behave differently from what you might expect.’ NATO Summit 2025 sees the large NATO Summit taking place in The Hague, entailing huge preparations for the police units in The Hague, Rotterdam, and Amsterdam, particularly. The Noord-Holland Regional Unit is involved as well, along with National Intelligence, Expertise and Operational Support (NIEO), National Investigations and Special Operations (NIS), and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The other police units throughout the Netherlands are providing personnel and other support. All these parties are cooperating to ensure that the summit runs safely. Found my niche As an Operational Specialist B, Van Kuijck feels she has found her niche. The course provided her with a huge network of fellow crisis specialists. ‘We’re still in frequent contact to share knowledge and experiences, ask each other for advice, and inspire each other with current events and developments. This knowledge provides a firm basis for years. To anyone working in crisis management, I’d say: Take this master’s programme! It will really enrich your job.’ Want to know more? For more information about the Master of Crisis and Public Order Management programme (in Dutch).