The new cabinet of VVD, CDA and D66 announced on Friday that from next year an additional 300 million euros will be made available for safety in our country. This amount will increase to a structural 600 million euros from 2030. Of this, 512 million is for the police. The House of Representatives still needs to approve the cabinets plans.
Knol: These additional funds give us the space to strengthen the financial foundation of the police and modernize the organization. I see this as a sign of trust in the police, but also as a great responsibility. It is up to us to ensure that the funds are spent as effectively as possible on what really matters: the safety of the residents in our country.
The cabinet supports the police and invests broadly in operational capacity and the organization. Together with regional mayors and the Public Prosecution Service, we requested 350 million euros to eliminate the structural shortages of the police. This amount is necessary to continue hiring operational personnel and to expand the organization. With the planned investment of 512 million euros, we can also focus on the desired strengthening of, for example, cyber and vice detectives. We are getting to work.
According to Knol, modernization of the police organization remains necessary: We must continue to modernize the organization and get our budget in order, precisely to sustainably strengthen the quality and capacity of operational police work. It remains necessary to reduce the overstaffing of non-operational personnel and control rising ICT costs. At the same time, we are working hard to further develop ourselves as an organization, for example in the field of digitalization of police work.
The chief finds it important to transparently show how we do this. In the coming period, we will work out how the additional funds will be used. As soon as we can tell more about this, we certainly will.