The Rotterdam-Rijnmond Seaport Police

Police work in a world port!

General

For many years, until 2005, the port of Rotterdam was the world's number-one port.
Its sustained growth and development began well over 100 years ago with the construction of the New Waterway, connecting the European hinterland countries on the Rhine with the seaborne world trade.

As an international transport hub, the port of Rotterdam handles many millions of containers each year. It is a port of call for 35,000 ocean vessels annually, together carrying 320 million tons of cargo.
It provides direct employment to 60,000 people and indirect employment to another 250,000.
No less than 350 million people in the European hinterland depend on its trade. The port of Rotterdam generates some 10% of the Netherlands' Gross National Product, worth approximately 40 billion euro.

The years ahead will see another 50-billion euro investment in the port, emphasizing Rotterdam's role as "Mainport Europe". Rapid improvements to its infrastructure are underway.

The Seaport Police, part of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond regional force

The Netherlands has 26 regional police forces. One of them is the Rotterdam-Rijnmond force, providing police care in the Rhine estuary with its over 1 million residents.
In addition, divisions of the National Police Agency (KLPD), such as the Traffic Police, the Railway Police and the Water Police perform a number of specialist police tasks.

In the Rotterdam-Rijnmond area, however, the Seaport Police performs the police tasks on the water and on wharves and terminals.
Established in 1895 as the 10-strong River Police, it has been responsible for safety and security in the port of Rotterdam for over a century. Seaport Police staff numbers have kept up with the growth of the port, and at present the division has over 350 employees.

The Seaport Police is now one of the oldest specialized divisions of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond force.
Its core tasks in the fields of environmental enforcement, border control, navigation-rules enforcement, port safety and security and tackling serious, organized crime make it a characteristic division of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Police.
Its diversified tasks give it a virtually unique position, enabling it to gather, manage and supply information on a regional, national and international level. Here, co-operation with other enforcement and investigative agencies in the port of Rotterdam and the mutual use of expertise within the legal norms is essential.

The Seaport Police has a fleet of 13 vessels, which differ in size, speed, draft and seaworthiness, allowing an appropriate vessel to be used for each area. The division also has some 40 patrol vehicles, used mainly for patrolling wharves and terminals.
A number of these are unmarked, and one vehicle is specially equipped for environmental tasks.

Our patch runs from Ridderkerk to the regional border in the open sea, a good 300 square kilometres, 30% of which is water and 70% is land.
In summer, this patch is expanded with the recreation areas Haringvliet, Brielse Meer and Grevelingen.

The Seaport Police is headed by the Division Manager, supported by a number of staff departments and a small personal staff.
The Division Manager has an important internal task as well as a network function involving international contacts with other seaports and government agencies.

The work of the Seaport Police is divided into three work processes: Border Control, District Police and Investigation.

Border Control

Within the port of Rotterdam, the Seaport Police is responsible for border control.

Under the Schengen agreements, Rotterdam is a "European external border". This means that all crewmembers of ships calling at the port of Rotterdam have to be checked.

Before a ship enters the port of Rotterdam, administrative checks are already carried out, based on the data provided by the master. A risk analysis is conducted by means of computerized systems.
Then, crew lists, travel documents and the crew themselves are checked on board these ships.

In principle, border control activities are carried out by the Border Control Unit, who use mobile NSIS (National Schengen Information System) computers to process the information.
However, the District Police also performs this task on a limited scale.
Annually, well over 350,000 crew members and passengers cross the Rotterdam border.

To issue visas to seafarers from particular countries, the Seaport Police reception desk is staffed with specially trained officers and has the required resources.

A number of coordinators has been appointed to oversee border controls on board ocean vessels and the receptionists' work at the station. They give advice on deployment on the water, explain the legislation, formulate case policies and assist in the handling of stowaways.

District Police

The District Police performs the specific police task on the water and on land, where it provides emergency response, rendering assistance in the event of, and dealing with, collisions and accidents.

The District Police also carries out checks on ocean vessels, inland waterway vessels, pleasure craft and passenger vessels. It also gives considerable attention to safety and security in the port area on and around wharves and terminals.
Another major task is enforcing environmental legislation both on land and on the water.

The District Police area of operation is divided into two districts, East and West.
In each, a district team is responsible for law and order and for safety and security.

East District (City)

The East District Police is responsible for the port area between Ridderkerk and the river Oude Maas.

The eastern part of this area contains the old urban ports, where the transhipment of non-bulk cargo is declining.
In many places, the old port activities have had to make room for new urban development.
The number of mooring facilities for inland waterway vessels is on the increase here. This port area also lends itself to major events like speedboat races and other river and riverside attractions.

A number of container terminals are situated in the centre of the area and a modern fruit terminal is located on the north bank.

Most of the companies in the western patrol area are petrochemical facilities, which results in heavy traffic of hazardous substances both on land and on the water. To prevent safety risks, the petrochemical industry requires strict environmental controls. This is why the patrol vessels are specially built and equipped for safe operation in this area. Staff training pays considerable attention to these controls.

The East District station is at St-Jobsweg 6, 3024 EJ Rotterdam.

West District (Europoort)

The West District Police is responsible for the port area between the river Oude Maas and the regional border in the open sea.
Apart from the petrochemical industry, this is the area of large-scale storage and transhipment of mineral oils, millions of containers and bulk cargo like coal and ore.
The ferries to the United Kingdom have their terminals in this area. Many new wharves and terminals are under development here and the seaward extension of the Maasvlakte area will offer designated space for a great many companies and harbours.

West District officers render assistance to their colleagues of the Islands area in policing aquatic sports and pleasure craft on the Brielse Meer lake, the river Bernisse and in the Scheepvaart- en Voedingskanaal.
This brings a lot of extra work, particularly in the peak season. The district has its own police station and a fast, open launch for patrolling the Brielse Meer lake.
The Seaport Police carries out similar patrols on the Haringvliet and the Grevelingen together with the Transport Division of the National Police Agency and the Islands area.

On the Haringvliet, the Seaport Police uses a high-speed vessel, also used for policing fishing vessels in the Calandkanaal and the Maas Approach and for policing from the sea the recreational activities along the North Sea beaches within the region.
The West District patrol vessels are suitable for operations in mid sea and render assistance to the Coastguard.

The West District operates from its own station at Neckarweg near the Rozenburg Locks. The unit has 100 officers, meeting the demand for round-the-clock police supervision.

The West District police station is at Neckarweg 50, 3197 KX Rotterdam.

Investigation

The Investigation Department of the Seaport Police focuses on port-related and organized crime. Forms of crime it deals with include people smuggling, drug smuggling, trafficking in weapons, and theft of, and from, containers. In many cases, these are the work of international, organized criminal networks.
To combat these forms of crime, the Investigation Department cooperates with investigative agencies all over the world. It constantly seeks working methods that make the port as unattractive as possible for criminal activities.

In recent years, its project-based approach has allowed the Investigation Department to tackle and solve many more cases.
This has enhanced its insight into organized crime in and around the port of Rotterdam as well as other, international ports. For this purpose, it cooperates with many national and international police agencies.

The recognition of the importance of a thorough and timely approach of organized crime in the port of Rotterdam has led to an increase in the number of staff of the Investigation Department and to reimbursement of special Seaport Police expense.

Cooperation

Since 1996, the Seaport Police has participated in Hit and Run Container Teams, made up of officers from the Investigation Department, the District Police, the Customs and the Fiscal Intelligence and Investigation Service.
Their aim is not only to arrest offenders and return stolen property to its owners, but also to strip offenders of their assets (i.e. deprive them of unlawfully obtained gains), thus preventing them from benefiting from such assets after serving their prison terms.
The investigation results are used to prevent any repetition.

International consultations

The Seaport Police participates in various national and international consultative bodies including the E.A.A.S.P. (European Association of Airport and Seaport Police) and the l.A.A.S.P. (International Association of Airport and Seaport Police), in which it holds board posts.

European and international law enforcement agencies hold annual meetings to discuss developments surrounding seaports and airports. The activities of both organizations focus on the safety and security of passengers and cargo, also in relation to national and international crime.

Staff units

The Seaport Police has three staff units:

1. The Maintenance Department maintains and repairs buildings, vessels and cars.
2. As the name suggests, the Accounts Department deals with Seaport Police finance and gives administrative support to the whole of the police area.
3. The Organization and Personnel Department recruits and selects staff and arranges the required training courses. It also informs the staff about personnel matters and registers the hours worked.

In addition, the Division Manager of the Seaport Police is assisted by a personal support unit, comprising a secretary, a controller, a policy support worker and the Communication and PR Department.

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