Politieacademie

ABSTRACT Dutch security services noticed in 2024 that crimes associated with the sovereign citizen movement have increased in frequency and severity. While most sovereign citizens obey the law, key influential people within the movement might inspire others to commit crimes using their own interpretations of the law, also known as “pseudolaw”. We compared popular literary sources within the sovereign citizen movement with police interrogations of sovereign crime suspects in the Netherlands to investigate this. The results showed that the interrogation transcripts indeed seemed to reflect the pseudolegal rhetoric of sovereign influencers.

Emerging sensing technologies are revolutionizing crime investigation by enabling faster, more accurate, and non-invasive evidence collection. This paper reviews recent advancements, focusing on 3D reconstruction for virtual scene analysis, electronic nose for drug and explosive detection, and other innovative tools such as thermal imaging and ground-penetrating radar. Their applications, benefits, limitations, and integration potential are discussed, highlighting their growing role in enhancing forensic investigations.

Abstract Objective This article aims to propose and utilize an agent-based model to understand how opportunistic behavior in criminal groups contributes to the adaptive capacity of illicit supply chains. These efforts aim to better understand empirical studies, such as drug trafficking networks, that exhibit patterns of resilience and replacement after enforcement actions. Methods Strategic decisions are modeled dyadic and group contexts using an agent-based approach. To differentiate social relationships, transactions, and activities. Various simulations with different parameters were conducted to analyze the structural, functional, and temporal dependencies of the network. Results Simulation results point group interactions significantly boost the adaptive capacity of illicit supply chains only when interaction frequency is high, whereas dyadic interactions are more effective for decentralized optimization. Risk-tolerant agents enhance network effectiveness, and low-visibility brokers are crucial for resilience. Lead-based interventions targeting connections of removed agents are more disruptive in low-interaction order networks, while random interventions are less effective in highly connected networks. Conclusion The emergence of low-visibility brokers urges to better understand the behavior of the illicit organization before deploying specific law enforcement interventions. Simulation offers further insight in how to consider both structural properties and temporal dynamics when designing effective intervention strategies.

Abstract This study examines how participation in learning activities on controversial topics can be increased. Specifically, we focus on police officers’ willingness to participate in activities to prevent ethnic profiling, a highly charged topic within the police organization and society alike. As with other controversial topics, not all police officers embrace such initiatives. In this paper, we explore individual (e.g. gender, service years) and work-related antecedents (e.g. psychological safety) of police officers’ support for reform training in two different studies. In the first explorative study, we interviewed 13 police professionals who volunteered to lead an ethnic-profiling reform in their units. The interview data confirmed the importance of the variables extracted from the literature and identified two additional factors: job satisfaction and political orientation. In total, we identified four sociopsychological constructs and five individual variables that we deemed relevant for further analysis. A second, quantitative survey study with 281 police officers tested the relationship between the identified constructs and police officers’ support for reform. The results showed that being male, warrior-minded, orientated towards the political right, and being dissatisfied with one’s job all corresponded with less support. Open text analysis revealed that police officers typically avoid reform activities for four key reasons: lack of awareness of potential bias (don’t know), indifference towards the topic (don’t care), opposition to the reform (don’t want), or fear of negative evaluation from colleagues (don’t dare). These findings highlight the importance of psychologically safe, informative, and appealing learning environments in reform strategies to prevent ethnic profiling.

High Kinetic Energy Ion Mobility Spectrometry (HiKE-IMS) is a technique for rapid and reliable detection of trace compounds down to ppbV-levels within one second. Compared to classical IMS operating at ambient pressure and providing the ion mobility at low electric fields, HiKE-IMS can also provide the analyte-specific field dependence of the ion mobility and a fragmentation pattern at high reduced electric field strengths. The additional information about the analyte obtained by varying the reduced electric field strength can contribute to reliable detection. Furthermore, the reduced number of ion-molecule reactions at the low operating pressure of 10 – 40 mbar and the shorter reaction times reduce the impact of competing ion-molecule reactions that can cause false negatives. In this work, we employ HiKE-IMS for the analysis of phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) and other precursor chemicals used for synthesis of methamphetamine and amphetamine. The results show that the precursor chemicals exhibit different behavior in HiKE-IMS. Some precursors form a single significant ion species, while others readily form a fragmentation pattern. Nevertheless, all drug precursors can be distinguished from each other, from the reactant ions and from interfering compounds. In particular, the field-dependent ion mobility as an additional separation dimension aids identification, potentially reducing the number of false positive alarms in field applications. Furthermore, the analysis of a seized illicit P2P sample shows that even low levels of P2P can be detected despite the complex background present in the headspace of real samples.

Police employees have an essential role in sustaining safety and harmony within communities, and they need to stay well as individuals in order to achieve this. Yet, their stressful work environment does not always afford optimal interpersonal interactions. In collaboration with the Dutch police force, the present project explored the effects of a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training on the fostering of constructive interpersonal responses as well as individual well-being among employees of the Dutch police. In total, 133 police employees participated in a non-randomized waitlist controlled MBSR intervention. Participants filled out four online questionnaires spread evenly over a period of six months on constructive interpersonal responses and individual well-being. Linear mixed-effects analyses showed increases on various indicators of constructive interpersonal responding and individual well-being from pre-to post-training. These results were largely maintained at two-month follow-up. Interestingly, the positive effects of mindfulness intervention did not generalize across all measures of constructive interpersonal responding. Moreover, more frequent home practice predicted training benefits. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

In missing person cases, police often face spontaneous searches by citizens. This study examined the involvement of police and citizens in a well-known Dutch case. It shows that the relationship between police and volunteers is not static, but changes over time. Initially, citizens are more quickly organized and take charge. As the investigation progresses, different types of volunteers are incorporated into the police structure. Citizens pose dilemmas regarding direction and information sharing, but provide valuable search capacity and expertise. The results show the importance of not opposing citizen initiatives, but rather making contact, establishing structure and coordinating efforts early on.

Producing evidence that can be used in court is a central goal of criminal investigations. Forensic science focuses with considerable success on the production of pieces of evidence from specific sources. However, less is known about how a team of investigating police officers progressively produces a body of evidence during the course of a criminal investigation. This literature review uses Weickian sensemaking to analyse what is known about this process in criminal investigations into organised crime. Focusing on the criminal investigation team, collective sensemaking is used as a lens through which to place the reasoning processes used in constructing evidence in a social context. In addition to describing three constituent parts of collective sensemaking relevant for criminal investigations, six factors are identified that influence the quality of collective sensemaking. Building on these results, nine focal points are presented for analysing the sensemaking processes in a criminal investigation team, aimed at advancing knowledge about the production of evidence in criminal investigations of organised crime. Furthermore, a definition of evidence is developed that is suitable for studying sensemaking in the context of an ongoing criminal investigation.

The decomposition of a body is influenced by burial conditions, making it crucial to understand the impact of different conditions for accurate grave detection. Geophysical techniques using drones have gained popularity in locating clandestine graves, offering non-invasive methods for detecting surface and subsurface irregularities. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is an effective technology for identifying potential grave locations without disturbance. This research aimed to prototype a drone system integrating GPR to assist in grave localization and to develop software for data management. Initial experiments compared GPR with other technologies, demonstrating its valuable applicability. It is suitable for various decomposition stages and soil types, although certain soil compositions have limitations. The research used the DJI M600 Pro drone and a drone-based GPR system enhanced by the real-time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) for precision and autonomy. Tests with simulated graves and cadavers validated the system's performance, evaluating optimal altitude, speed, and obstacle avoidance techniques. Furthermore, global and local planning algorithms ensured efficient and obstacle-free flight paths. The results highlighted the potential of the drone-based GPR system in locating clandestine graves while minimizing disturbance, contributing to the development of effective tools for forensic investigations and crime scene analysis.

L’approche du consentement par le biais des références de la colonialité met en exergue l’hégémonie européenne et patriarcale comme matrice de la subordination. Ainsi, l’esclavage, le racisme, les inégalités et les subalternités ne s’installent pas seulement par rapport à la couleur et au genre. Le consentement excède le rapport intersubjectif car il convoque le cadre légal, la subordination brutale mais aussi l’adhésion à une logique des places déterminée par le pouvoir des philosophes, des politiques et des hommes dans la famille et la société. La colonialité est donc comprise comme un ensemble de paradigmes de domination et de régulation de la vie des colonisés et en retour des dominés au sein des sociétés dites développées, à commencer par les femmes et leurs corps.