1. The Dutch Touch: How Holland Managed to Cut Crime
Georgia and The Netherlands compared
1 May 2011
The Dutch Touch: How Holland Managed to Cut Crime
Presentation for the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, Tbilisi November 2014
Jaap J. de Waard
The Hague: Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice
May 2011

2. What are we going to do during this presentation?
Personal introduction and backgound
The Netherlands in a nutshell
Crime trends in The Netherlands
Effective policing: what works in NL?
Effective rehabilitative interventions: what works in NL?
Effective situational crime prevention: what works in NL?
Myths and misunderstandings
Conclusions

3. Personal introduction and background
Personal ambition to stimulate the utilisation of evidence based scientific insights into the policy making process
Compiling, analysing, dissemination and creating awareness on existing knowledge  core business of my work at the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice
The basis for an effective criminal justice policy is reliable and validated knowledge, from proven high-quality and edited research
Three knowledge domains policing, criminal interventions and situational crime prevention  recently published meta evaluations / synthesis studies

4. The Netherlands in a nutshell
41,543 sq km
Coastline: 415 km
Population: 16,847,00
Capital: Amsterdam, million
Urban population: 83%
Independence: 23 January 1579
Legal system: based on civil law system incorporating French penal theory
GDP:$680.4 billion
GDP per capita: $40,500
Unemployment rate: 5.5%
Internet users: million
Illicit drugs: major European producer of synthetic drugs, including ecstasy, and cannabis cultivator, important gateway for cocaine, heroin and hashish entering Europe.

5. Macro-trend in The Netherlands: Crime and Fear of Crime minus 20%
Crime Victim Survey:
Drop in crime (property and violent)
Fear of Crime:
especially young women
Registered crime:
follows trend crime victim survey:
drop in crime (property and violent)
Striking:
Drop in serious crime: sexual
and hard drugs
Registered crime by police
Crime Victim Survey)
Over de hele linie 20-25% verbetering
Criminaliteit:
Brede teruggang
Woninginbraak uitzondering (+15%)
Onveiligheidsgevoel
m.n. jongere vrouwen
toename angst bij vrouwen ‘s avonds alleen thuis (+20%)
Geregistreerde misdrijven
volgt criminaliteit (s.o.schap):
continu minder vermogen
‘vertraagd’ geweld /vandalisme (na 2007/8)
Opmerkelijk:
Daling zware delicten (-15%) w.o. seksuele (-28%) en hard drugs (-23%)
Toename:
Computervredebreuk (+242%, nu 2.000)
Bedrog (+23%, nu )
Niet opvolgen ambtelijk bevel (+65%, nu 3.500)
Fear of crime

6. Victimization trends in The Netherlands: 1980 - 2010

7. Registered crime by the Dutch police, 2000- 2009
Other
Drugs offenses
Traffic offenses
Vandalism/ public order
Property crimes
Violent offenses 7

8. The International Drop in crime: Main explanations for The Netherlands

9. Possible explanations for the crime drop in The Netherlands I
Selective incapacitation effects/targeted selective approach to offenders.
Saturation of the consumer market luxury goods (putting a cap on the stolen goods market).
Luxury consumer goods increasingly low in price (the Mediamarkt Effect) causing a collapse in sales in the (amateur) market in stolen goods.
Aging cohorts of hard drug addicts who are too far gone to commit crime; reduction in the numbers of heroin and cocaine cohorts.
The effects of situational crime prevention techniques. CPTED; Building laws/codes; Police Label Safe and Secure Housing; Technology driven crime prevention measures (Cars, Phones, ATM’s).

10. Possible explanations for the crime drop in The Netherlands II
Combination of repression and prevention (for example in the case of commercial robberies and prevention of repeat victimization for burglary).
More advanced crime analysis technologies and applications.
The increased cooperation between the government and the business community and implementation of a number of targeted programs (prevention/repression) results in increased effectiveness; value for money.
Increase in willingness to apply preventive measures/awareness of prevention/effectiveness of preventive measures among individuals and the business community.
In short: an integrated rational multi agency approach (police, local authorities, business, gouvernment). Focused & situational crime prevention technologies

11. Recipies for effective policing: What works in The Netherlands?
Promising
Community policing
Pulling levers
Compstat
Evidence-based policing
Effective
Focus on repeat victimization
Hotspots policing
Third party policing
Problem oriented policing
Hot offenders / prolific offenders

12. Characteristics of effective policing
Focussed and selective approach towards: (potential) offenders
- (potential) victims
- places and times
Focussed approach taking into account the priorities and expectations of citizens and organisations / businesses
A thorough crime analysis: - nature and extent of crime
- analysis of causes
- analysis of possible measures and interventions
- analysis of effectiveness

13. Effective rehabilitative interventions: what works in The Netherlands?
What does not work?
Scared Straight, Shock incarceration, Boot camps
What works above the average?
Interpersonal skills training; Parent training; Tutoring; Cognitive-behavioral therapy; Family counseling; Mentoring; Behavior management; Employment/job training; Community sanctions; Alternative sanctions
What works on average?
Drug/alcohol therapy; Group counseling; Individual counseling
What are the most important research outcomes (‘treated versus non-treated’ groups)
Most programmes have a small (but certainly not negligible effect) effect  on average there is a 12% improvement
25% of the programmes show a reduction of recidivism of 30%
The effectiveness of interventions is determined to a considerable degree by the way in which they acquire form in (difficult) practical situations
Only high-quality and intensive approaches produce results.

14. Trends in Dutch prison populations: 1960 - 2010

15. The raising of lighting levels in (semi) public spaces
Effective situational crime prevention measures: What works in The Netherlands?
It is easier to change places than people
What works?
The deployment of supervisors in housing complexes, public transport and public space
The raising of lighting levels in (semi) public spaces
The use of CCTV in certain locations, aimed at specific crimes
The use of the Secured by Design instrument
The raising of the general security level and the reorganisation of residential areas
Hot spot surveillance
The installation of standard security measures during the production phase of consumer goods (cars, cameras, bicycles, mobile telephones)
The application of (civil) legislation and regulations to close criminogenic places

16. Good practice: The prison sentence as a last resort
Adults
Minors
Fines
Detention
Community
service
Dismissal
Not quilty 16

17. Special Features of the Dutch Approach to Crime Control and Crime Prevention
Strong collaboration between central government and the business world: Dutch National Platform of Crime Control;
Public and Private Partnerships to promote crime prevention, especially with the Private Security Industry
Preventing is more desirable then prosecuting
Using civil remedies and an administrative approach preventing criminal behavior (local organized crime)
Strong certification schemes for public safety aspects
Evidence based approach (evidence based crime policies versus policy based evidence)

18. Myths and misunderstandings in The Netherlands and elsewhere
The more police, the less crime
Informal contacts between police and youngsters prevents youth committing crimes
The more arrests as a reaction to crime, the less crime there will be
Crime prevention does not work and only leads to crime displacement
There is a widespread use of so-called good practice in practice
The dissemination of effective interventions is sufficient to reach the desired effect
’’Nothing works’’ in reducing recidivism
Alternative sanctions and / or Community punishments are a soft option

19. Conclusions
There is reason for moderate optimism about what works as regards tackling crime and reducing reoffending
A key characteristic of effective crime policy is that it is specific and concentrated: selection and focus are the most important features
A crime policy that is too general and based heavily on a ‘’probable idea’’ is not effective
The effectiveness of most interventions is often determined by the way an intervention is implemented in (difficult) practical situations
Dealing with people correctly and the proper personal treatment of perpetrators and (potential) victims seem to be crucial for the success of interventions
Taking measures which limit the opportunity structure to commit crimes appears to be more effective than using an exclusive offender-oriented approach
There is a wealth of evidence that situational crime prevention techniques are effective. However, the large-scale national application of these effective measures seem to be difficult