When you talk about the police, everyone knows who you mean and everyone also has a feeling about it. There is no other public organisation that captures the imagination so much. ‘The police are the most visible part of government authority,’ says public administration expert Dorian Schaap. ‘They make the difference between life and death.’ But what exactly they do and what role they play in society is more difficult to establish.
A new story
As an organisation, the police are looking for a new story. This is partly because the previous justice and security minister had a new outlook on police duties. 'Yeşilgöz considered divesting smaller work, such as enforcement and surveillance, and focusing on more serious crime. The police are also struggling with the many tasks, but do not want to lose part of their domain without thinking it through themselves.'
On top of that, the organisation is facing more and more questions. For instance, there are opposing wishes in society. 'On the one hand, the police must be nearby, close to the people. On the other hand, they must also take a detached position, to be neutral and maintain an overview. How do you do that?'
Technological innovations are also changing the work. 'To solve cases, officers hardly use interrogations anymore. It is now mainly about tapping phone calls and cracking chat servers. But as is true for the entire government: changes are happening faster than they can keep up with.'