This is evident from the annual follow-up research by the police regarding the awareness of the framework for Professional Checking. We conduct this research because this theme is of great importance to the police. Citizens must be able to rely on professional and fair treatment. This contributes to societal trust in the police; something that has been high for years, but is not a given. Especially in these times, with much division and unrest, it may be more important than ever.
This research also responds to a motion from the House of Representatives in 2022, in which we were asked to investigate whether awareness of the framework has increased.
Police for Everyone and Professional Checking
Professional Checking (ProCo) involves conducting objective and fair checks by the police. It is part of the Police for Everyone program, which focuses on diversity, inclusion, and diverse expertise, both within the police and in relation to citizens. This is a comprehensive task, with ProCo being one of the ‘levers’ to achieve our goals. The premise is that we treat every citizen equally, without being guided by prejudices or gut feelings. This aims to prevent checks based on age, gender, socio-economic class, ethnic or cultural background, religion, sexual orientation, or other personal characteristics without an objective justification. This is a response to the accusation of ethnic profiling that the police sometimes receives. A framework has been developed for this, which everyone in the operation must know.
Insufficient Progress
Unfortunately, this is not yet a reality. Over the past 3 years, an annual survey has been conducted among 1,500 officers on this topic. In 2023, 39% of them were aware of the framework, and 2 years later, that percentage rose to 48%, while the target is 100%. Only 1 in 10 officers could correctly answer knowledge questions about professional checking.
The follow-up research also shows that relatively many police employees still mention incorrect grounds for proactive checks, such as a gut feeling when seeing ‘suspicious’ individuals, the overrepresentation of certain groups in crime statistics, or individuals who ethnically do not belong in a certain neighborhood.
Although the research shows that there is support for investing more time in this subject, 1 in 5 police employees indicates that there is currently not enough attention to professional checking within their team. Most believe that the police should do more to promote the professionalism of checks.
High Professional Standard
‘There is still a long way to go,’ says police chief Martin Sitalsing (North Netherlands Unit) and member of the Police for Everyone program board, in response to the follow-up research. ‘The professionalization of checks is not complete and requires continuous attention and efforts. Society entrusts the police with the monopoly on violence and several significant powers,’ Sitalsing said. ‘This means we must set a high professional standard. There should be no checks based on gut feelings. Professional checking helps us maintain a professional standard.’
The Police for Everyone program board has taken several steps in recent years to increase awareness of ProCo. For example, there are ‘ambassadors’ on each team for this theme, a special MEOS app has been launched, and various scenarios have been developed for training with Virtual Reality. Sitalsing: ‘Such a tool makes you aware of blind spots that we all have.’ Various studies show that VR training has a real effect, both in terms of knowledge increase and positive attitude towards professional checking. So far, around 30,000 police employees have participated in this training.
‘We are making cautious progress, but it must be better,’ says Sitalsing. ‘After five years of inspiring, enthusing, and supporting, we are now moving towards more guidance. The ProCo approach will continue, but leaders need to pay more attention to it in management meetings and performance reviews.’
