Organisation Police Debate: everything starts with neighbourhood policing but challenges remain Written on Thursday, February 20, 2025 What can the police do to be more proactive in the neighbourhood? Get out of the car more often? Act on neighbourhood-specific instructions from the emergency room? Increase collaboration with special enforcement officers? Or pay more attention during police training to making small talk with citizens? This is just a selection from the practical solutions that were suggested during the Police Debate at the Netherlands Police Academy. There is no one-size-fits-all solution that will help the police. Yvonne Hondema, national portfolio holder for Connected Police, kicked off the debate in Apeldoorn. ‘To me, neighbourhoods are pivotal in policing. Everything comes together in the neighbourhood’, she said in her introduction. Yet she also sees that neighbourhood policing is under pressure. As far as she is concerned, everything starts with neighbourhood policing. ‘We often say: every officer is for the neighbourhood. But unfortunately, it’s mostly just text and slogans, because we are struggling to get this right.’ Ivo van Duijneveldt is a researcher at AEF and associated with the Local Policing Centre of Knowledge at the Police Academy. He sees the same development. As a result of the increase in the scale of policing, neighbourhood-based policing has increasingly come under pressure. ‘National frameworks and a local approach to policing are diametrically opposed’, according to Ivo. He argues that when the Netherlands Police was restructured, many teams were merged and police stations were closed, whereas it is the neighbourhood that should be invested in. ‘You cannot compensate that with a digital service concept.’ Ivo is a great supporter of problem-driven management. ‘In many areas, the pressure from responding to emergencies is relatively low, leaving a lot of time that could be put to use. But then it is essential that you can focus on an area that is manageable. Because if your rounds become too big, you lose your anchor.’ Contact with citizens According to Anko Lange, sector head in Groningen, neighbourhood-based policing is not failing everywhere. He sees differences between teams. ‘In the periphery, officers feel a stronger connection with their areas. That feeling tends to be weaker in large teams.’ He emphasises that neighbourhood-based policing is not just about organisation, but also about culture and leadership. The police need to stop focusing on incident handling and get back to the heart of police work: contact with citizens. ‘We made the move from the neighbourhood to emergency assistance, and we now have to move back. We need to get everyone in the organisation on board, and police training has a very important role to play.’ Ownership Operational specialist Mirjam Mast from the Noord-Nederland Unit has doubts about reversing the focus on emergency assistance: ‘We have tried to get colleagues to work proactively in the neighbourhood through work assignments. But the moment you drive away from the police station, you set your own priorities, and the work assignment moves to the back of your mind.’ That has to do with management and culture. ‘You can see it in the way frontline policing teams are set up. Self-managing teams don’t work: the frontline policing teams are too big, which is an obstacle to ownership.’ Mast believes one possible solution is to make more effective use of existing surveillance duties. Wouter Stol, lector at the Police Academy, conducted research into police work and concluded that 50 percent of the time in a shift was not related to a specific report. But that time is not always used efficiently. ‘Police officers don’t perceive it like that, but it has been scientifically proven: a lot of time is spent just driving around.’ ❛❛ The police need to stop focusing on incident handling and get back to the heart of police work: contact with citizens. Arrive at the scene with useful information In an effort to improve neighbourhood policing, an experiment will be launched in Zuidwest Drenthe in March. In this experiment, the police try to not only deal with reports reactively, but also use them as a means of building structural contact with the neighbourhood. ‘We know that the units follow up reports from the emergency room well. We’ll try to take advantage of that’, says Mirjam. In the experiment, we will provide intel reports via the emergency room system. This is to ensure that officers arrive at the scene of a report better prepared and with useful information. This means that a report of nuisance in a playground will not only be treated as an incident. Officers will also take into account the wider issues of young people and safety in the neighbourhood. Here lies a chance for police officers to connect better with their neighbourhood. However, there is also a challenge. Research has shown that officers rarely step out of their car to strike up a chat with citizens. ‘We drive around the mall, but we don’t get out to walk through it and make contact’, explains Mirjam. This is partly cultural, but it is also a consequence of today’s police training. ‘Basic police training currently focuses on emergency assistance. We would rather see students learn to focus on the neighbourhood. Local policing should be a larger part of the curriculum.’ ❛❛ The new generation of police officers seems to find it increasingly difficult to engage in small talk with citizens. New generation During the Police Debate, various people noted that the new generation of police officers seems to find it increasingly difficult to engage in small talk with citizens. Bertri Post, neighbourhood police officer in the IJsselland-Noord team recognises the phenomenon: ‘We really have to teach colleagues to step out of the car. When you ask young colleagues to walk up to someone and start a chat, they get a fright.’ Former neighbourhood policeman Wilco Berenschot sometimes feels that young colleagues lack curiosity. Still, he is convinced that everybody can learn how to be curious and can be ‘switched on’. Even if it can be difficult. ‘People are sometimes disappointed when they’ve seen real-life cop shows but eventually find out that a lot of neighbourhood policing is less exciting than what you see on television’ A neighbourhood policeman in the audience offered a solution. During emergency assistance shifts, he tries to promote neighbourhood policing with the colleague sitting next to him in the car. ‘Just get out of the car every now and then and take a stroll around the market’, he says. And it works: it inspires young colleagues. Special enforcement officers Another relevant development is the growing importance of special enforcement officers in neighbourhoods. Peter van Vliet EMTP, assistant director of Monitoring and Enforcement in Amsterdam, notices that special enforcement officers are increasingly taking over neighbourhood duties. ‘As a special enforcement officer, you can do the things for which neighbourhood police officers no longer have time: being visible and making contact. We’re getting reports from citizens saying that they feel safer because of our presence in the neighbourhood.’ The cooperation between the police and special enforcement officers leaves room for improvement. The police frequently ask for support from special enforcement officers, but they fall under the responsibility of the municipality, which has priorities of its own. ‘These priorities, not the wishes of the police, take precedence.’ Yet Van Vliet also sees opportunities for more cooperation between special enforcement officers and neighbourhood police officers. ‘Special enforcement officers are the eyes and ears of the street. We can share a lot of information with the police and vice versa. My dream is that our information will be accessible in police systems and vice versa.’ Deputy Commissioner Wilbert Paulissen concluded the debate. He emphasised that visibility in the neighbourhood is not exclusively a police task. ‘In that respect, I think that too much is often expected of us. As if we’re the ones who should save the neighbourhood.’ It is a task of the government, that in his opinion should be addressed together with municipalities and partner organisations. The tricky part is that after five in the afternoon there is only one phone number citizens can call. That’s the police’s.