The programmatic approach

Dear colleagues,

In my contribution to the plenary meeting I have mentioned briefly a new method of law-enforcement we are now introducing in the Netherlands: the so-called programmatic approach. I would like to use this opportunity to tell you some more about this method, that is innovative, at least for us in the Netherlands. First I will describe the method and go into the reasons why we choose this new approach, instead of a more traditional style of law enforcement. Then I shall illustrate the way the programmatic approach operates in practice in the fight against human trafficking.

What exactly do I mean by this 'programmatic approach'? In traditional law enforcement an investigation concentrates upon a suspect or a group of suspects. Investigative powers are used to obtain evidence. On the basis of this evidence the defendant is prosecuted. If all goes well, the prosecution results in a criminal conviction and a sentence.

That approach may function very well, if one limits the aim of law enforcement to ensuring that those who are suspects of criminal offences get their just deserts. However, if one regards law enforcement as a means to deal with serious problems and threats in society, its effect may often be limited.
There are many areas of crime, where convicting defendants does not seem to have much impact. For every leader of a drug-smuggling gang we put behind bars, a new one pops up and takes up the smuggling where his predecessor left off.
There are also serious crimes that are largely invisible; because there are no criminal complaints and the police neither have the expertise nor the contacts to spot such criminal goings-on. Money-laundering and insider-trading fall into this category.
Then there are the crimes that are so much part of a complex, often international system, that criminal law enforcement, will have little effect, especially incidental criminal law enforcement on a local level. An example of this are advanced internet frauds.

The characteristic of our 'programmatic approach' is that, instead of concentrating upon the particulars of an individual case, a type of crime is dealt with as a complex phenomenon, where many actors may bear a responsibility, not just the police and the prosecution service. The programmatic approach does not only take into account what criminal law enforcement may achieve against a type of crime. The approach also emphatically makes use of the contribution other parties may make, most importantly, other government services, such as the Tax Service, Inspection services or municipal authorities. These often possess administrative powers that can be very helpful in the fight against particular types of crime.
In addition to that, businesses may also be major partners for law enforcement: both individually through compliance and corporate social responsibility programmes and as a sector, through self-regulation.

The first step of the programmatic approach is that an analysis is made of a particular type of crime. Under what conditions does this type of crime flourish and when not? What processes are involved? And which actors and facilities are relevant?
That analysis is used to pinpoint at what stage and how the crime-fighting parties involved may best use their powers to put up barriers. That is why we also use the term 'barrier model'.
The next step is that a mutual programme is drawn-up which carefully plans what steps all the parties concerned will take. In that way a holistic and concerted effort can be made. The potential of criminal law enforcement is supplemented by the input of other partners.
The third step of the approach is obviously that the programme is put into practice. We have only recently begun experimenting with this method, but the first results - mainly in the field of human trafficking - are promising.

This programmatic approach is always intelligence-led. The strategy is based upon validated information, rather than upon assumptions. Moreover, there is a constant process of analysis and feedback. All information obtained during the investigations and activities under the programme is used to enhance and refine existing knowledge.

You are all experienced enough to know where the major difficulty lies in such an ambitious approach. Even if one is able to organize the criminal law enforcement-segment to operate as a team, which can be difficult - there still is the challenge to get other government services to co-operate without reserve. That challenge becoems even greater when the co-operation also includes non-governmental partners such as businesses or special interest groups. The more responsibilities and priorities are at stake, the more difficult it becomes to achieve a common goal.

Because we too are aware of that difficulty, we have set-up our programmatic approach as an experiment, as a learning experience. We have appointed three areas of crime as our 'experimental gardens'.
Those areas are:
- Human trafficking;
- Large-scale cultivation of cannabis. Unfortunately a booming business in the Netherlands, that is partly controlled by organized crime;
- And crime in the real-estate sector;
Shortly I shall discuss the way our programmatic approach has taken shape in the area of human trafficking.

Before that, I would like to stress that the programmatic approach is not a standardized method. It is rather a way of thought.
Therefore it will take a different shape in all four areas I have just mentioned. However there are some key elements present in all areas where we will apply a programmatic approach.
- An integral perspective, that looks beyond the confines of criminal law, at the possibilities for civil, administrative, fiscal and immigration law have to offer.
- An international perpective, because most major crime is international nowadays;
- Focus upon an intelligence-led strategy.
- A learning-by-doing method, where individual cases are used to learn from.
- And in all fields the same objective: to get both insight into that particular type of crime ánd to get it under control.

What does that mean in practice? By way of example I will now describe two of these programmatic strategies, those concerning human trafficking, and asbestos pollution.

As we all know human trafficking is the exploitation of people, mostly, but not exclusively, in prostitution. Or to be more outspoken: it is a modern form of slavery. My organisation has for years been trying to deal with this disgusting crime.

A few years ago prostitution has been decriminalized in the Netherlands, that is those voluntary forms of prostitution that do not involve minors, exploitation or violence.
Why this decriminalization of prostitution? The reason for that was that in view of the fact that prostitution as such cannot be eradicated in our society, it would be better to bring it out of the shady world of illegality, so that exploitative abuses can be dealt with.
This decriminalization (or as others call it: legalization) has had some positive effects, however unfortunately not on human trafficking.
Still there are too many women being exploited - often under terrible circumstances - in our country.

We have given the fight against such abuses priority. That means that we have set up a specialist unit; we have increased our expertise; we have invested in our contacts with international partners, we have prosecuted more cases and we have even have sometimes managed to convince judges to hand out higher sentences than they used to. We have therefore come a long way.

But it still is not enough. We might of course have increased our capacity further, but we have realized that we have bumped against the limitations of criminal law. Merely prosecuting defendants is apparently not enough to root out human trafficking.
Something more is required. That 'something more' is the programmatic approach.
What is interesting about human trafficking, is that human trafficking gangs need to mask at least part of their activities as legal. For instance they need identity documents, housing, bank accounts and bar licences for their brothels. That need for a semi-respectable front, is exactly what gives the programmatic approach a chance to offer something extra above what crimina llaw enforcement may achieve.
I have told you that the programmatic approach entails a thorough analysis of the structure and the dynamics of particular crime. We have also made such an analysis of human trafficking. That analysis has been used to show where the various parties involved may best make a contribution to the fight against human trafficking. Where can government- and other organizations put up barriers to prevent human trafficking organizations from gaining foothold in our country? We have described every stage in the working-process activities of a trafficking organization. That process starts with the import of women. There, the Immigration service, the Border Police and our Foreign Office may take measures. A next stage is housing, both for the traffickers and for the prostitutes. Here municipal authorites, housing corporations, housing inspections and private parties may put up barriers: by doing background checks, verifying identity documents and by reporting patterns of behaviour that fit human trafficking. Thus we have described the entire chain of human trafficking and assigned preventive and repressive possibilities to each link.

The analysis has made all parties concerned much more aware of their potential to contribute to the struggle against human trafficking. We, the law enforcement authorities, have also learned from the analysis. To give one example of an approach we had not thought of before: Some of the human traffickers in the Netherlands have an islamic background, especially the so-called 'lover boys' . These young men of Maroccan descent abuse the inexperience of young girls to lure them into forced prostitution. The analysis recommends the use of islamic organizations and religious figures for blaming and shaming those involved with human trafficking within their communities.

In the case of human trafficking we have used the analysis to set-up a programme. First with a limited number of participants, but that number is growing. To put the programme into practice, we have now done a major investigation, leading to a case that is currently being prosecuted in court. The experiences in that - and a number of other cases - are being used to analyze further what steps must be taken by the various government services concerned to minimize the possibility that human trafficking gangs take hold in our society.
When it comes to the programmatic approach, we are still in the learning phase. But in our case, it is learning by doing. Each new case contributes to our knowledge of what works best to eradicate human trafficking.

I have now given you an overview of our programmatic approach.
We, the Dutch, like to think that we are very innovative, but not always correctly so. We always pretend that the cheese slicer, a special knife to cut cheese with, was a dutch invention. It is not, a Norwegian designed it first. And those windmills, we are famous for? Alas, a Belgian beats us to it by half a century.
So when I call our programmatic approach 'innovative' I more or less expect you all to jump up and say: 'what do you mean by 'innovative'? My grandfather already used that method!'
I would therefore gladly hear of your experiences with similar ambitious programmes that involve partners from outside the domain of criminal law enforcement.