Limburg mayors say police in the border province are being overstretched by requests from other countries for help with criminal investigations.

Police in Limburg receive thousands of requests from colleagues each year, mostly from Germany and Belgium, which means they have less time for their regular job, the mayors said.

One-fifth of all cross-border requests are handled by Limburg police stations. Altogether Dutch police receive 20,000 requests for information per year, police and the public prosecution office told broadcaster NOS.

Most requests involve looking up car registration numbers or addresses, but police are also asked to carry out house searches or arrests.

Things are further complicated because German police are legally bound to investigate every report, whereas in the Netherlands the police and public prosecution service set priorities.

Bike thefts

“We can get a request to question a bike thief who has been filmed by a security camera in  Aachen while we don’t do anything about a bike theft in Kerkrade because it has no priority,” Peter Aagten of the Limburg legal assistance department said.

Recently Limburg police had to put 100 officers on a case involving a gang of car thieves at the request of the German police. “An officer who is questioning a suspect on behalf of the German police can’t be an officer on the beat at the same time,” team chief Johan Hoeijmakers said.

Cooperation with foreign forces is part of the job and, based on international agreements, cannot be refused. But the international workload needs to be reflected by higher staff levels, Hoeijmakers said. “Limburg is the Randstad of Europe, with a catchment area of millions of people, “ he said.