Policing the liberal state in the Netherlands: The historical context of the current reorganization of the Dutch police

On 1 April 1994 a new Police Act came into force in the Netherlands, remoulding some 148 municipal police forces into a single service made up of twenty‐five regional forces and a national police services agency. It replaces a structure which had been in place since 1851. What led to the crisis which generated the current reorganization? In answering this question, this article examines the history of Dutch policing institutions and structure, the recurring problems which have beset the Dutch police including those which arose from the 1960s onwards, the current reorganization, and Dutch ‘liberal’ policing in the 1980s and 1990s. It is argued that the present policing issues themselves can only be understood in their broader social context, set in an extensive historical dimension.