We’ve all seen it, some poor soul falling victim to a Dutch police officer and their notepad. However, from today, Dutch police will stop fining people for minor violations.
Minor violations usually consist of things such as putting your bins out too early, fishing outside of fishing season and also speeding.
Of the 8 million traffic fines in the Netherlands, 6.6 million were for speeding offences.
— LLAG (@LLAG) May 3, 2023
So, why are Dutch police suddenly so forgiving? Because they want things to change.
Early retirement for police officers
Since 2021, a temporary policy has allowed police officers to retire three years before state pension age.
Now, police unions want to make this permanent — but The Hague has yet to do anything about it, RTL Nieuws reports.
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This is why, from today, the police will have a new approach to minor violations.
Here, have a voucher
Instead of slapping you with a fine, police officers will instead be handing out different, less expensive sheets of paper: pamphlets.
More specifically: pamphlets that lay out their wishes from the government.
Now, that’s one way to protest.
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