National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

esidence of groups of immigrants from these countries brings a risk of imported
(organised) crime. The formation of ‘criminal bridge heads’ has already been
mentioned in this regard.
Attention paid by the police and the judicial authorities
Property crimes are generally not assigned a high priority by the police, but
the recently intensified collaboration between trade associations and the police
makes it easier to control these types of crime.
4.6.7 Conclusion
After decreasing for several years in a row, the number of robberies increased
again in 2007. There is no clear explanation for this increase. Robberies may be
on the rise because it has become more difficult to carry out ram raids as a result
of tougher security measures. The recently intensified collaboration between
trade associations and the police and improved security around potential targets
might reduce the number of robberies in the future, albeit that there is a limit
to how much the security options can achieve. The retail trade – which is where
the most robberies are committed – is facing a dilemma between security
and accessibility.
Furthermore, there is a risk of an increase in the number of robberies because of
the prosperity gap combined with a increase in mobility. In the future we will
therefore have to take into account at least the current scale of robberies. It
speaks for itself that robberies seriously harm Dutch society, especially in the
form of the non-tangible, psychological harm suffered by victims of these
offences and the effect that these offences have on people in the surrounding
area. In recent years, an increase in the use of physical violence during robberies
has also been observed. For these reasons, ‘organised, supraregional robberies’
have been qualified as a threat.
The scale of ram raiding is limited. The damage is mainly financial and relatively
small hauls are stolen in the ram raids. The non-tangible, psychological harm
caused by ram raids is less serious than that caused by robberies, as there is
generally no confrontation between offenders and victims, but it should be
noted that these offences do affect people’s general feeling that they are not
safe. Future developments are difficult to predict due to the fluctuating scale of
these activities and the fluctuating amounts stolen in the recent past. The
reduction in the scale of ram raids may continue if the aforementioned
displacement effect does occur. Moreover, the consequences are generally
limited. Controlling the phenomenon of ram raiding mostly comes down to
prevention: promoting security measures and compliance with procedures.
chapter 4 – Supraregional property crime
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