Public safety and security

Enforcement and protection
Public safety and security are basic requirements for a successful society with a decent quality of life. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations is responsible for upholding standards and providing an infrastructure for security providers in the Netherlands.

Safe society
The Netherlands is not as safe as it should be. Many people fear crime, and many fall victim to crime. Everyone needs to play their part in making the country safer. Much needs to be done by all the authorities and services involved, at national, provincial and municipal level. But the private sector and the public also have a role to play.

The government is investing heavily in the fight against crime. The Minister of the Interior & Kingdom Relations and the Minister of Justice have devised a raft of measures in a programme called "Towards a safer society". It sets out targets the government hopes to achieve by 2006 and explains how it intends to do so.

The aims are to tackle persistent offenders, target young people at risk of slipping into crime, and to improve monitoring and supervision in public spaces. More targeted prevention projects will also be set up, and more resources will be devoted to investigation and enforcement. Extra funding has been made available – €190 million in 2003, €250 million in 2004 and €490 million in 2005. From 2006 this will be raised to at least €720 million a year.

Police
The Dutch police consists of 25 regional police forces and the National Police Services Agency (KLPD).

The KLPD carries out national and specialist police tasks. It collects, files, processes, manages, analyses and distributes information, and carries out other support tasks. It guards the Royal Family and other important persons. And it procures police weaponry, uniforms, and other equipment.

Each of the Netherlands' 25 police regions is headed by a regional police board, consisting of mayors and a chief public prosecutor. The KLPD is headed by the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (since 1 January 2000). He is responsible (with the Minister of Justice) for the overall quality of policing in the Netherlands. He also heads each of the regional police forces "at arm's length" - meaning that he limits his interventions in principle to what is strictly necessary.

The Dutch people need assurances that the police service and its finances will be managed to acceptable standards and that police officers will comply with acceptable standards of competence and quality. The Minister's arm's-length approach therefore also includes drawing up regulations governing financial management in the regional police forces, their terms of employment, their weaponry, and their uniforms. He appoints high-ranking police officers such as chiefs of police and fosters liaison among them at national level. And he allocates the police budget among the regions and monitors (with the Minister of Justice) their financial management.

National security (AIVD)
The AIVD contributes to the protection of national security. To that end the AIVD collects information on individuals and organisations that give reason to suspect that they pose a threat to the democratic legal order, the security or other vital interests of the state. Secondly, the AIVD conducts investigations regarding other countries in order to gain insight into hotspots and potential hotspots in the world with a view to possible consequences for our security. In order to carry out these tasks, the AIVD has a number of special powers. Thirdly, the AIVD gives advice on security measures against impairment of national security. Finally, the service is responsable for security screening of applicants for positions involving confidentiality.

Fire-fighting and disaster response
As the disaster response services get faster and more effective, they have to work together more closely at both management and operational level. To promote closer cooperation, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has set up a board to investigate accidents and disasters outside the defence and transport sectors, along with their aftermath.

The fire service
Fire-fighting is primarily a local government responsibility. Many fire-related incidents, such as house fires and road accidents, often have only minor consequences. But not always. Everyone in the Netherlands must be guaranteed basic protection from the dangers of fire.

Disaster response 
In a country as densely populated as the Netherlands, accidents and disasters can have serious consequences. The danger of serious accidents is growing as our society becomes more technologically complex. Look at our crowded road network and underground tunnels. Their growing complexity is steadily increasing the risk of serious accidents, though awareness of the importance of safety is also growing.

Organising disaster response is a core task of the police, fire, and medical services. When appropriate, they call for assistance, for instance from the Red Cross or rescue and environmental services. To ensure a fast and effective response to major accidents in border areas, the Netherlands has made agreements on cross-border assistance with Germany and Belgium.

Communicating efficiently
To provide assistance as well as possible when disaster strikes, emergency services must be able to exchange information. The fire service, for instance, must be able to find out quickly what hazardous substances are present at the scene of a fire. Information and communications technology (ICT) provides essential tools for communicating efficiently. The State Secretary for the Interior is responsible for coordinating information systems.

The Ministry is currently hard at work on two major projects to help the emergency services communicate more efficiently. Communicatie 2000 (C2000) is a mobile communications system used by the police, fire, and ambulance services. To serve the public better and to respond to serious incidents faster, emergency services in more and more regions are sharing a single emergency centre. The level of cooperation varies from merely sharing a building to completely integrating working processes. The Integrated Emergency Centre System (GMS) makes this kind of cooperation easier.

Both these projects aim to increase the speed and efficiency of responses to calls to the national emergency telephone number, 1-1-2.