Virtual reality is increasingly used in our society. Also in the field of physical safety this technique is applied. In this article we give an overview of virtual reality applications that are used in the Netherlands in this domain. This overview is divided into the five phases of the integrated emergency management system of the Netherlands. Based on international studies from other fields we try to indicate where in the near future virtual reality also can be used.
Conclusion of this article is that virtual reality already plays an important role in the physical safety domain, especially because this technique can support the learning ability of the safety organizations in many areas. Because of constant innovation (in technique and application) that takes place, it is expected that in the future even more virtual reality applications in the field of physical safety are possible.

Since November 2009, the regional police of Groningen facilitated their community officers with Twitter. According to the principles of community policing, they are enabled to shorten the distance between the police and citizens by giving them a direct connection. Such a connection should stimulate interaction, while at the same time it should make people feel more safe. In addition, Twitter also creates possibilities for the police to be transparent. Sharing of information should alter citizens’ perception towards the police.
A comparison has been made, by using an online questionnaire, between followers and two kinds of non-followers. The effects of following twittering community officers have been demonstrated by using statistical analyses, taking into account relevant control variables. On the basis of these analyses it has been demonstrated that following a twittering community officer did not positively or negatively alter the perception of safety of their followers. However, an enhanced information position has made followers much more aware of local disorder and crime. Thanks to shared information about police actions to sustain and improve local safety and livability, followers’ perception of safety has not been altered negatively.
Followers’ perception towards the police organization has been positively altered, thanks to the twittering community officers. Especially the sharing of information and involving citizens into local policing helps the police to alter the perception of citizens towards their organization. In addition, it has been shown that followers’ willingness to report has been improved. Thanks to the ease of use of Twitter and the shortened distance between the police and citizens, followers do frequently contact the police or a community officer to share some information, or to report some crime or disorder. However, it has been shown that Twitter should just be presented as complementary to existing ways to contact the police.

Analysing large amounts of data goes to the heart of the challenges confronting intelligence and law enforcement professionals today. Increasingly, this involves Internet data that are ‘open source’ or ‘publicly available’. Projects such as the European FP7 VIRTUOSO aim at developing platforms for open-source intelligence by law enforcement and public security, which open up opportunities for large-scale, automated data gathering and analysis. However, the mere fact that data are publicly available does not imply an absence of restrictions to researching them. This paper investigates one area of legal constraints, namely Dutch criminal-procedure law in relation to open-source data gathering by the police. Which legal basis is there for this activity? And under what conditions can foreign open sources be investigated?
After sketching the context of the VIRTUOSO project and legal constraints of open-source intelligence in general, this paper discusses provisions of the Dutch Police Act 1993 and the Code of Criminal Procedure to determine which is the correct legal basis for gathering data from openly accessible and semi-open sources. Next, cross-border gathering of data is discussed on the basis of article 32 of the Cybercrime Convention. The paper draws the conclusion that investigating open sources by the police will often go beyond what is allowed on the basis of the general task description of the police (art. 2 Police Act 1993); hence, an order from the Public Prosecutor for systematic observation or intelligence is required. Moreover, the tools used must meet the non-manipulability and auditing requirements of the Dutch Decree on Technical Devices in Criminal Procedure.

This article discusses the results of a Dutch study that focuses specifically on victimization of various forms of cybercrimes among civilians. The survey addresses the cybercrimes hacking, fraud through selling and auction websites, identity theft and fraud and advanced fee fraud. The results are based on a validated questionnaire which was posted amongst a representative sample of 21,800 citizens, the response rate was 10,314 (47 per cent). In this article of each of these cybercrimes the prevalence is shown. Concerning prevalence, the victim survey shows that in the twelve months preceding the survey 4.3 percent of all Internet users were victims of hacking, 2.4 percent were victims of online scams (by paying for a good or service but not receiving them), 0.8 percent were victims of identity fraud and 0.2 percent of advanced fee fraude. Of all victims, 11.9 percent was victim of more than one of the cybercrimes we studied for this article. If we compare this with figures of offline crime we see that in the Netherlands in 2010, 1 percent were victims of assault, 1.2 percent of burglary and 1.5 percent of sexual offenses. In comparison with these offline crimes, the cybercrimes in our study have significant numbers of victims. Among Internet users, we see that victims of hacking and fraud by auction or selling sites are more often youngsters than older people (for hacking 15 till 35 years in fraud 15 till 25 years), people without a partner are at higher risk than people with partners and people with indicated that their most recently completed education were low are more at risk than people with high education. Especially with the online fraud this is remarkable, because it appears that people who make the most purchases over the Internet are higher educated and mostly in 25 till 45 years old.

This article describes the findings of a national representative survey on online victimization. The survey was conducted in the Netherlands in 2011 amongst youth aged 10 to 18. Purpose of this research is to identify various risk factors related to cyber bullying, online sexual activities and online financial crime (e.g. e-fraude and commercial deceit). More than 9 percent of the youths had negative experiences with cyber bullying, about 5 percent with e-fraude and over 11 percent with commercial deceit. Also unwanted online sexual solicitations (6%) and unwanted exposure to sexually explicit internet material (12%) occurred with some regularity.
This research complements earlier research on youth victimization in two important respects. First, we paid explicit attention to determine whether the youngster experienced the online incident as negative, neutral or positive. Our strategy to address negative experiences ensures the identification of actual victims. Secondly, we made it possible to identify and compare risk factors on various types of online crime. Girls are more likely to be cyber bullied, to receive unwanted sexual solicitations and to be unwantedly exposed to online pornography, whilst boys are more at risk to be commercially deceived or scammed.
Internet use and behaviour are significant risk factors to comprehend online victimization. Above average use of instant messaging and clicking on (advertising) hyperlinks without restraint, are important predictors for online victimization. Finally, online disinhibition - a loosening of social restrictions during interactions with others on the Internet - and low self-control, turn out to be significant risk factors.
It is difficult to accept certain risks, especially when youth are involved. However, children have to learn themselves to assess risks, to deal with them and to learn from them. It is important youths built up resilience to adequately react on negative online incidents and to reduce online vulnerability.