Third edition of the OOV Monitor: number of civil servants has almost doubled

Dutch mayors frequently use their powers to tackle public disorder and crime. This and more is revealed in the third Public Order and Safety Monitor published by Pro Facto and the Centre for Public Order and Safety at the University of Groningen.

For example, mayors often intervene in cases of drug-related crime, but are less likely to order the closure of a property, particularly in municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. It is striking that a number of powers have hardly been used for the third year running, including the Victor Act, which suddenly proved relevant during the outbreak of violence in Overasselt. At the same time, the number of local authority officials responsible for public order and safety has almost doubled over the past three years.

About the monitor

The OOV monitor provides annual insight into the extent to which mayors apply the OOV toolkit. 173 of the 342 municipalities (51 per cent) took part in the 2025 monitor.

Lighter measures are more common in drug-related cases

The Damocles Act remains one of the most frequently used instruments, and the closure of properties is still the most common measure. In all participating local authorities with 100,000 inhabitants or more, at least one property was closed this year. Last year, this was not the case for all larger local authorities. At the same time, instruments such as warnings and orders subject to a penalty payment are gaining ground.

This is in line with the stricter stance taken by the highest administrative court (the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State) and the call from earlier research into the application of the Damocles Act to exercise greater restraint when closing down properties. The increase in the use of warnings and penalty payments may reflect the cultural change required within local authorities to achieve this. However, such a cultural change takes time, meaning that major shifts are not visible from one year to the next.

Number of civil servants for OOV tasks continues to rise

In municipalities with 50,000 to 100,000 inhabitants, the staffing level allocated to OOV tasks averages 13.1 FTE, compared with 10.8 FTE a year earlier and 6.7 FTE in 2023. This represents almost a doubling in three years. In municipalities with a population of 25,000 to 50,000, staffing levels are also rising, from 4.3 to 5.0 FTE. At the same time, it appears to be particularly difficult for larger municipalities to actually fill all available posts.

Area bans, public gatherings and emergency powers

The number of reported public gatherings increased almost everywhere, but mayors rarely restrict or disband them, whilst the news tends to focus on those cases where the mayor did intervene. Media reports of a sharp rise in emergency measures are not borne out by the data in the monitor: in 2025, the mayor issued an emergency order just once in 6 per cent of municipalities, and an emergency by-law was proclaimed just once in 7 per cent of municipalities – rarely more often than that.

Area bans are mainly imposed under the local General Public Order By-law (APV) and much less frequently under the Act on Measures to Combat Football Hooliganism and Serious Nuisance (MBVEO Act or Football Act), which is aimed at tackling and preventing football hooliganism, neighbourhood nuisance and disturbances at events.

The Bibob Act and the Victoria Act

All local authorities apply the Bibob Act. This Act enables investigations into the integrity of organisations to prevent the government from unwittingly facilitating criminal activity when granting licences, subsidies or public contracts. It is interesting to note that the application of the Bibob Act rarely leads to the refusal or revocation of, for example, a licence. This does not mean that the Bibob Act is ineffective; it may also indicate the preventive effect of the Act.

The use of the Victoria Act (closures due to public disorder, violence and explosions) rose sharply in 2024 and remained at the same relatively high level in 2025.

Powers that are not being used

Particularly striking are the powers that have been virtually unused for three years running: the Victor Act, the reporting obligation under the MBVEO Act (the Football Act) and administrative detention. Legislation is often introduced following incidents or social developments and is sometimes accompanied by certain political expectations. If a measure is then hardly ever applied for years on end, this raises questions. Is the power difficult to apply, unfamiliar, or perhaps not necessary after all? Or are there other measures that achieve the same objective (more effectively)? Further research by the University of Groningen and ProFacto will need to provide an answer to this.

Click here to download the OOV Monitor 2025.