It is entirely justified that the district detective division has major concerns; they have been severely understaffed for years. Despite this, they work incredibly hard and do fantastic work, for which I have a lot of respect. The Korps Management Team (KMT) fully agrees with the concerns of both the union and the detective personnel.
I find it regrettable that things have escalated to this point and that our colleagues feel they must resort to striking, but I respect that choice. It is a fundamental part of our democracy and exposes underlying issues and concerns.
As a police force, we still share the same goal and a collective responsibility, which is to ensure safety within our community and the well-being of our personnel. I am always 100% committed to this, and I will remain so until my departure next summer.
It is true that letters with directives were sent to me by the minister, but the Procurator-General also has jurisdiction over that matter. You cannot simply pull people away from a department where multiple ongoing investigations are running. Furthermore, every single department within the force is currently understaffed. Agreements have already been made this week regarding the reinforcement of the district detective division, and the minister’s request has been fulfilled: personnel have been assigned to the division, and this has also been communicated to them.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (OM) did indeed send letters, but not to me—they were sent to the minister, and I received a copy for informational purposes. The content highlights their observation that the entire justice chain is heavily understaffed across the board, including the OM itself, alongside institutions like the KIA (prison) and the KPA (Aruba Police Force). The OM has indicated that because of this, they will no longer prosecute certain reports, meaning people who file a police report will not receive follow-up.
As a police force, we are facing severe understaffing of more than 30%. However, it is not just about those percentages, as they are no longer realistic anyway. The force’s formal formation structure is based on an organizational plan from 2011, which was 15 years ago. Society has grown, and police tasks have become significantly more complex and comprehensive, yet our staffing levels have remained the same—chronically understaffed for years.
For now, we have to make do with what we have, and that is exactly what we are doing; we keep pushing forward. We are trying to be creative through automation, investing in technology, and reshuffling personnel where possible. But the real solution must be sustainable; there must be funding allocated over the coming years for the influx of new personnel through academy classes.
Since becoming police chief, I have strongly advocated for this, and since my tenure began, new academy classes have finally resumed after an 8-year hiatus. We have brought in exactly as many classes as our police academy can handle, which has slightly alleviated the understaffing. However, the reality remains that if you have zero influx for years while personnel continue to leave due to retirement, growth is slow and the problems persist.
I have never declined any invitation; I am always open to having a dialogue with everyone. The president himself is the one who refuses to accept invitations for consultation, yet I continue to invite him and the union board. I hope he decides to come to the table eventually; I am eager to seek solutions together with him and the board.
The president has indeed indicated that he does not want to talk, but rather wants to see immediate action and solutions now. I have a hard time with that approach, because you first need to understand a problem before looking for a solution—and especially before making public statements about someone else without having spoken to them first. That creates polarization, which is exactly what is happening now: we are not talking to each other. Regardless, I will continue to seek a connection with the union, and we will remain focused on police work and the well-being of our staff.
I acknowledge the problem at the district detective division, but simply reshuffling people quickly is not the solution; that creates risks for other essential police tasks. The administration (government) needs to step up and make resources available—not just for the immediate short term, but structurally for the years to come.