National Police Corps (Netherlands)

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National Police Corps Korps Nationale Politie
National Police patch worn by all uniformed employees
The National Police logo. The diamond in the logo stands for a book of law and the grenade with a flame stands for vigilance.[1]
Flag of the Dutch National Police
Common name	De nationale Politie (or de Politie)
Motto	Waakzaam en dienstbaar Watchful and subservient
Agency overview
Formed	1 January 2013 (as National Police)
Preceding agencies	Korps landelijke politiediensten Regiokorpsen Rijkspolitie
Employees	62,942 (2019)
Annual budget	7,306,000,000 EUR (2023)
Jurisdictional structure
National agency	Kingdom of the Netherlands
Operations jurisdiction	Kingdom of the Netherlands
General nature	Civilian police
Operational structure
Headquarters	The Hague
Elected officer responsible	David van Weel, Minister of Justice and Security
Agency executive	Janny Knol, Commissioner
Parent agency	Ministry of Justice and Security
Website
https://www.politie.nl

National Police Corps (Dutch: Korps Nationale Politie), colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force, is divided in ten regional units, two national units, the police academy, police services center, and national dispatch center cooperation. The law-enforcement purposes of these agencies are the investigation of suspected criminal activity, referral of the results of investigations to the courts, and the temporary detention of suspected criminals pending judicial action. Law enforcement agencies, to varying degrees at different levels of government and in different agencies, are also commonly charged with the responsibilities of deterring criminal activity and preventing the successful commission of crimes in progress. The police commissioner (eerste hoofdcommissaris) in the Netherlands is Janny Knol since March 1, 2024.^[2]

Besides police officers, the Netherlands has about 23,500 peace officers. These officers have a Special Enforcement Officer (SEO) status (Buitengewoon Opsporingsambtenaar) or BOA/Handhaving in Dutch and therefore have police powers (detaining suspects, ask for identification, make an arrest, issue fines within their power of offences and use force). They can be found within the transport police, game wardens and local enforcement agencies. The majority of BOA officers have the authority to carry and use handcuffs which can only be issued to officers who have the power to use force. A few councils also issue their officers, with permission from the Ministry of Justice and Security, police batons, pepper spray and occasionally firearms.

Their task depends on their area of operation. A game warden enforces nature laws, while a local enforcement officer enforces local ordinances and municipal code infractions. In 2018 unions were concerned with the increase of violence against these officers and had decided to make the consideration towards whether they would equip all these officers with the less-lethal weapons, batons and pepper spray, or make them part of the national police force.^[3]