Samenvatting

In the local governance of public safety many different organizations are involved. These organizations cooperate in local networks or partnerships to manage problems related to crime and disorder. In the Netherlands the local government should coordinate the cooperation between these organizations and their activities. Research shows that in practice this coordination has many serious shortcomings.
Therefore the Dutch government proposed a new Act to promote the local government’s capacities to coordinate these networks and local policies of public safety (Wet op de gemeentelijke regierol lokale integrale veiligheid). At this moment this proposal has not yet been submitted to the Dutch Parliament.
This Act will create new obligations and powers for the local government. According to this Act every four years local councils will have to establish a public safety policy plan based on an analysis of local problems of crime and disorder. Local governments should make formal agreements with the local partner agencies about their activities. Additionally the Act will provide local governments with the power to enforce these cooperation and contributions and to sanction it.
Research shows that many of the problems that arise in the coordination of these networks and partnerships result from the local governments themselves. Often the governmental support and commitment to local safety issues are insufficient, the local administration is highly fragmented, the coordination is often poorly implemented and local administration often have a bureaucratic culture that is hard to reconcile with the need to react quickly to urgent local problems.
Considering these problems the authors argue that this proposed Act is not an adequate solution for the problems that arise in the coordination of local safety policies and partnerships.