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Crime in the Netherlands has decreased since 2004, resulting in the closure of over 20 prisons. This is due to relaxed drug laws, rehabilitation focus, and electronic monitoring. The country now imports prisoners to keep remaining prisons open, with only 11,600 people incarcerated in 2017. Former prisons have been transformed into hotels and migrant housing. Dutch crime rates have dropped by 25%, but critics argue that police station closures make it harder to report crimes.
Crime in the Netherlands has steadily decreased since 2004 and more than 20 prisons in the country have been closed. There are a number of reasons for this dramatic change in the Dutch prison system, including more relaxed drug laws, a focus on rehabilitation instead of punishment, and a successful electronic monitoring program that makes it easier for offenders to change their lives. In fact, there are now so few inmates that the Netherlands is “importing” prisoners from countries like Norway and Belgium to keep their remaining prisons open.
Less crime, different punishments:
In the Netherlands, only 11,600 people were incarcerated in 2017, a rate of 69 incarcerations per 100,000 people, compared to a rate of 716 incarcerations per 100,000 people in the United States, the highest incarceration rate in the world.
An empty prison south of Amsterdam has been transformed into a luxury hotel. Other former prisons have been used to temporarily house migrants.
Dutch crime rates have dropped by 25% in the past eight years, but critics say the statistic is misleading, as many police stations have also closed, making it harder to report crimes.
