Page 46 - Aanbevelingen om de integriteit

in a document tracking system. There are no costs associated with filing a complaint against the
52
police, however, anonymous complaints are not accepted and they must be submitted in writing.

236. At the NPN, the Security, Integrity and Complaints (VIK) departments of the various NPN
units handle complaints about the conduct of police officers, including alleged integrity violations.
Complaints concerning suspected abuse by NPN employees are handled by the Central Abuse
Reporting Centre. As already mentioned, more serious cases are conducted by the VIK department as
disciplinary offences or by the NPN Internal Investigations Department as criminal offences (under
the lead of the Public Prosecution Service).

237. External complaints about police action are dealt with by the NPN in different phases. The
first phase contains a possibility of mediation; five days after the reception of a complaint, the
complainant is contacted by the NPN. If the complainant so requires, a meeting can be arranged
between the complainant and the NPN employee concerned. If the complainant does not require
this, or if such a meeting does not satisfy the complainant, the complaint will be submitted to a
second phase under the Commissioner, who will obtain advice from an independent committee of
the region. These committees consist typically of a mix of trusted persons, lawyers, civil servants,
sometimes a retired police officer etc., appointed by the Minister, and they are independent from
the police. Such a committee has its own procedures after which it delivers an advice to the
Commissioner. The GET was told that such advices are almost always followed by the Commissioner,
who has to decide whether the complaint is founded, unfounded or inadmissible. If the complainant
is still not satisfied after this step, the complaint can be submitted to the National Ombudsman.

238. The NPN received 9,653 complaints from the public in 2017. Out of these, 7,359 were dealt
with in dialogue with the complainant (first phase), 388 were dealt with by an independent
complaints committee (second phase) and 154 were declared grounded. 1,906 cases were still open.

239. The Defence Complaints Procedure regulates handling of complaints at the KMar.
Complaints can be submitted online or by ordinary mail within one year after the alleged violation.
Anonymous complaints are not accepted. The KMar Complaints Department deals with complaints. It
includes 14 staff members. If a complaint proves to be about serious situations of abuse, such as
corruption, the Complaints Coordinator will submit it to the Head of the Integrity Cluster. The KMar
received 562 complaints in 2017. Out of these, 551 were dealt with satisfactorily in dialogue (first
phase) and 11 were dealt with by an independent complaints committee and the CKMar (second
phase). Complainants, who are not satisfied after this, can send their complaint to the Ombudsman.
Complaints received by the KMar particularly concern treatment, (road) behaviour/attitude,
providing wrong information, issuing wrong documents and profiling.

240. Anonymous telephone reporting of integrity violations by government personnel and of
criminal acts is also possible via the Trust Line which is part of an independent foundation, “NL
Confidential”, subsidised by the Ministry of Justice and Security (telephone number 0800 2800 200
https://www.devertrouwenslijn.nl/contact/). The anonymous messages are treated confidentially
and they are transferred to the responsible organisation for further treatment.

241. The GET notes that the complaints mechanism of the NPN is well structured and that a
number of complaints are dealt with and as it appears, resolved in an efficient manner through the
mediation phase. It also welcomes the complaints, in the second phase, being tried by a committee
independent of the police, but notes that the conclusion of such a committee is only an advice to the
Commissioner, who has the last say in the case. The GET came across some criticism that the system
was not sufficiently transparent vis-à-vis the public and that complainants were not given enough
attention in the process and that it was not independent from the police. The GET notes that this

52 Complaints must always include the complainant’s name and contact details. The intention is for complaints to be
handled in consultation with the complainant.

46