‘Too few agents, too little in The Hague’s direction and more and more crime’: in the Caribbean Netherlands, the law enforcement is ‘tragic’

The director also states that the recent reinforcement by agents from the European Netherlands leads to skewed relationships. « Agents from the Netherlands are already earning better and are assigned an allowance and a home here. That is not motivating for local agents. Dutch agents also have less bond with our community. »

Crowded

Safety on Bonaire is also under pressure due to growing crime. According to the council, the prison on Bonaire is overcrowded. 40 percent of prisoners consists of illegal Venezuelans who were convicted of drug smuggling. Allegedly this group causes « increasing unrest under the prison population, » which is difficult to remedy because of « the personnel understaffing. »

On Bonaire there is a fear of states such as in the Pointe Blanche prison On Sint Maarten, where Marines had to crush a rebellion at the beginning of May. The incident occurred while Prime Minister shoved the island.

Pointe Blanche is notorious because of the poor conditions for prisoners and the staff shortage. At the beginning of March, the prison guards stopped a day, so that prisoners did not get food for 24 hours and were not ventilated.

A new prison is being built on Sint Maarten, but it is only ready in 2028.

Use of arms

In a second report This week appeared, warns the Law Enforcement Council for the increasing juvenile crime on Sint Maarten. More and more often young people commit armed robberies or act in drugs. The report mentions structural poverty, neglect and domestic violence as the causes for the increase. This problem is also growing on the French side of Sint Maarten: last year the number of crimes by minors increased by 19 percent.

On Bonaire and the other islands, young people are also more involved in robberies. The decreasing safety damages the economy of the islands, which is highly dependent on foreign tourists.

A new prison is being built on Sint Maarten, but it is only ready in 2028

In its reports, the Council argues for additional resources from The Hague and an « integrated approach », so that the problems in law enforcement can be tackled. « Too often emergency solutions are devised instead of sustainable, long -term strategies that tackle the underlying problems, » the Council says.

In the first years after the reforms of 2010-when Bonaire, Saba and Sint-Eustatius became special municipalities-it was already clear that the police « was tight in her jacket, » says Glenn Thodé, then the Governor of Bonaire. « You need thirty men for the structural running of a 24-hour service of ten agents-because of scheduling, illness, vacation. You cannot solve suddenly shortages. »

Tragic

Thodé believes that the island board on Bonaire can better bring the problems to the attention of the empire. « If drivers go to The Hague, they mainly want to talk about more autonomy. But they must constantly point out the problems with the police for which The Hague is responsible. And they have to do more themselves – for example, on prevention. »

Thodé also believes that an integral vision in The Hague lacks enforcement on the islands. « It is at the bottom of the list. It seems from the Netherlands as if they are few significant numbers, but for Bonaire it is tragic. »

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