PUBLIC NOTICE

Did you report a criminal offense in 2018, or did you decide not to do so for any reason? Do you want to participate in an investigation? The Law Enforcement Council is independent. The Council examines how authorities such as the police and the public prosecution service perform their duties in Curaçao, in St. Maarten and on Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba. The Council also examines how cooperation works between these countries. Reports from the Council are public, and can be found on this site. The Council reports are presented to the Minister of Justice and Security. The Council often makes recommendations in its reports. After a number of years the Council can investigate what has been done with these recommendations. Topics that the Council has studied in recent years for Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba are, for example, the fight against atrako’s, the police education, the immigration policy and the extraordinary agents of the police (the so-called Bavpollers). In 2012 and 2014, the Council investigated how the police and the Public Prosecution Service BES deal with reports of criminal offences. The Council is now going to re-examine this. In that research, the Council would also like to hear what the experiences are of citizens who filed a report. These reported crimes can be serious crimes, but also lighter offenses. How did declarants experience filing a complaint? Was it easy to file a declaration? Did the police have the right attention and how was the treatment? Did you receive the right information before, during and after the declaration? Did the police or the Public Prosecution Service inform you about the state of affairs and about the outcome? The Council would also like to know why citizens sometimes decide not to file a report, even though they are the victims of a criminal offense. The researchers of the Council would like to get in touch with people who reported to the police, or decided not to report a crime. The researchers from the Council will be on Bonaire from Monday 25 March to Friday 5 April, and from 8 to 12 April on St. Eustatius and Saba. Those who filed a declaration with the police in 2018 (or who did not want to do so) and want to cooperate with the investigation are kindly requested to contact the Council by mail or telephone. The address for this is info@rrh-sxm.org, telephone +1 721 581-1067.