The Dutch police is organised into 25 regional forces and one national police agency (KLPD). The forces range from the largest (Amsterdam-Amstelland, with roughly 6,000 personnel), to the smallest, with under 600 officers. There are approximately 37,000 officers in the 26 forces, with about 15,000 other employees. The Ministry of the Interior is primarily responsible for the police, but the Ministry of Justice retains responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of crimes. In the regions, the commissioner (hoofdcommissaris) defers to the force manager (korpsbeheerder), who is the mayor of the largest city and primarily in charge of the police, and to the Chief Public Prosecutor on criminal investigations. The regional chief meets regularly with his or her two ‘bosses’ in the ‘triangular’ consultations on policy and enforcement and both can take decisions effecting operational issues. The 26 chiefs meet monthly in the Council for Chief Commissioners (Raad van Hoodfcommissaren), which does not take binding decisions. Unlike the Association of Chief Police Officers in the UK, only the 26 chiefs take part and no other high-ranking officers (the ‘chief officers’ in the UK).

* For more details, see Policing in the Netherlands (2004), available from the Police Department of the Ministry of the Interior in The Hague.