Strange or suspicious? Find out how you can keep crime out of your neighbourhood

News item | 07-01-2025 | 08:00

The world of organised crime

Shootings, the amount of drug waste being found in rural areas and the number of explosions in residential areas mean that urgent action is required. Crime in your neighbourhood is crime that has come too close for comfort. Minister of Justice and Security David van Weel explains the importance of the new campaign.

“Although criminals couldn’t care less about others, as shown by the drug labs that have exploded at the heart of residential areas, there are things the public can do. Often they are the first to notice if something is not right in their neighbourhood. They have the capacity to recognise such situations and keep crime out of their neighbourhood, for example by reporting it to the police or other agencies, sharing suspicions with each other, or talking about it. We shouldn’t forget that the number of well-intentioned citizens far outweighs the number of criminals.”

Identifying suspect behaviour

A normal looking house with a conspicuous number of CCTV cameras, a renovation for which large drums and barrels are carried into a property and someone who has suddenly acquired all kinds of expensive goods are all examples focused on in the three TV commercials. While all of these situations may not be strange, they are suspicious. The rest of the campaign consists of online banners, a campaign website and interactive social media stories which focus on identifying suspicious behaviour that may indicate subversive crime and what people can do about it. The next steps referred to on the campaign site include, for example, contacting neighbours, the community police officer or the police, the Crimestoppers NL (Meld Misdaad Anoniem) hotline, trade unions, the municipality, or confidential advisors. If the suspicious behaviour involves someone you know, it is a good idea to talk to a confidential advisor or the person themselves.

Key element

Hanneke Ekelmans, who is responsible for the Subversion portfolio at a senior level within the police, stresses the importance of involving the public and businesses.

“All of us can help make the world a safer place and this campaign demonstrates that everyone, no matter who you are or where you live, can make a difference. If you see something suspicious, you should report it so that the police can take swift action and prevent crime. With the help of the community we can work together to tackle criminal networks and make our neighbourhoods safer. Recognising and responding to things that are suspicious will make us stronger as a society in our response to crime.”

Information about the campaign

‘Strange or suspicious?’ is the first campaign to be implemented as part of the new ‘Keep crime out of your neighbourhood’ operation. The Ministry of Justice and Security and the police have taken the initiative to develop a broad communication and campaign based approach to increase a sense of urgency among the Dutch public and a commitment to fighting organised, subversive crime. Joeri Jansen, who is one of the people behind the initiative, clarifies the approach as follows.

“The commercials were directed by Achmed Akkabi, who is famous for TV series like ‘Mocro Maffia’, in which he clearly demonstrated that crime doesn’t pay. Achmed once again assembled a very diverse cast for this project.  During our research we discovered that people were impacted by the realistic nature of the scenes and our willingness to explore modern day themes and this combination led to a greater awareness of the effect of subversive crime.”

The campaign site (Houdmisdaaduitjebuurt.nl) offers more information on how to recognise suspicious situations and what you can do to keep crime out of your neighbourhood.