Society - Figures
Security and justice
In 2018, both The Hague and Rotterdam had a crime suspect rate of 159 per 10 thousand inhabitants, by far the highest rate of all Dutch municipalities. The suspect rate in Amsterdam was 139, in Utrecht 106. Lelystad also had a relatively high suspect rate at 145. Maastricht had far fewer suspects: 75 per 10 thousand residents.
By far the highest proportion of crimes in 2018 were committed in Amsterdam with 96 registered crimes per thousand residents. Rotterdam, Utrecht and Eindhoven also recorded relatively many crimes: 78 per thousand residents. The crime rate stood at 65 in The Hague, Heerlen and Maastricht. The lowest crime rates were recorded in the municipalities of Meierijstad, Súdwest-Fryslân and Alphen aan den Rijn at less than 35 per thousand residents.
In 2017, Dutch courts found the suspect guilty in 82.7 thousand crime cases. This was nearly 32 percent less than ten years previously in 2007. The largest number of convictions was for property, violent and sexual crimes. The number of persons convicted for traffic violations in 2017 was down by nearly 49 percent on ten years previously. This is related to the Public Prosecution Service (Settlement) Act which took effect in 2008 and which allows the Public Prosecution Service to impose sentences without court intervention for such crimes as drink-driving.
In 2017, courts imposed 118.6 thousand criminal sanctions. The most common sanction was the prison sentence, followed by community service and the pecuniary fine. The share of prison sentences rose from 24 percent in 2007 to 31 percent in 2017. A relative rise was seen in the number of community services in 2017 while there were fewer pecuniary fines compared to ten years previously. The number of additional penalties – for example driving licence suspension – has declined over the past decade.
The Netherlands Fire Service received 76 thousand fire alarms in 2018, for example 3 thousand more than in the previous year. It was the first increase recorded after 2013. The hot and dry summer caused a higher incidence of both roadside and vegetation fires. The fire service received over 1,000 call-outs for vegetation fires, nearly double the number in 2017. Among these vegetation fires, forest fires were up in particular. Altogether, the fire service was called out 360 times for forest fires last year, which is triple the number in 2017.
The share of people who have been in contact with the police in their own municipality over the past 12 months has declined in recent years, from 28 percent in 2012 to 22 percent in 2017. Whereas the number of interactions went down, public satisfaction with the interactions improved slightly. Furthermore, satisfaction with police services in the neighbourhood grew between 2012 and 2017.
This refers to citizens who have expressed their opinion on police services in the neighbourhood; a large proportion of the population have indicated they are unable to form an opinion (44 percent) or have not responded (4 percent).
Public satisfaction with police services in the neighbourhood was at higher levels than average in the police districts of Den Haag West, Amsterdam Zuid and Leiden – Bollenstreek, but also in Fryslân and IJsselland. Satisfaction levels are below the national average in all districts of the region Zeeland – West-Brabant. The same applies to the districts of Alphen aan den Rijn – Gouda, Gooi and Vechtstreek as well as several districts in the regions of Rotterdam and Limburg.