The front desk officer glanced through my case and decided he did not have time for me, and asked me to make an appointment for a date later that week.
When I returned a few days later, a female officer apologized for the miscommunication, and told me she was not going to file my complaint, as this was a matter of civil law. I explained to her, once more, that taking someone's money for a product which is never installed is a clear case of a scam, so I asked her for the second time to file my complaint. She refused again, this time with the argument I could not prove anything, after which I explained that this is not required for reporting a crime. I asked her a third time to file my complaint, after which she refused, because the prosecutor would dismiss my case anyways. I repeated my arguments but the lady would not budge, so I gave up and went home to prepare further steps.
I learnt that the Dutch police is legally obliged to file a complaint (Code of Criminal Procedure, article 163) and the proper way to handle this is to file a complaint with the police, and to report the issue with the prosecutor's office, so that is what I did. My complaint was responded to by a standard letter and a phone call, and a few weeks later I was invited to report my case.
During my third visit a complaint against MacCity, MicroFix and Apple Inc. was filed, after which I went home with a fancy folder with the report. A few weeks later I received a letter which told me that my case was dismissed, as it was a matter of civil law. When I reread the report, I realized the crux of my case was not worded properly, as it merely suggested the new logic board was non-conform, so I reported once more to the police station to file an addendum.
As usual, the front desk officers did not have time, and this time they were not even willing to make an appointment: I had to contact them through a paid phone number. When I finally got in front of the queue, I got my appointment, and reported to the police for the fifth time.
This time, I was met at the front desk by the lady who had initially refused to file my case. She did not wear her police uniform, and immediately opened fire: she thought I had understood her and found it low that I had filed a complaint against her anyways. I tried to explain I had understood her, but did not agree with her, had asked her three time to file a complaint, that she had refused three times, which was for me a reason to try other channels, but the lady was not really interested in my defense. She barked "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE SCREAMED: 'DON'T DO THIS TO ME! I DEMAND YOU TO FILE MY COMPLAINT NOW'." I fruitlessly tried to explain this is not my style of arguing, but the woman had already reverted to scream-only mode. I filed my addendum with a colleague of hers, and have not heard of it ever since.
This week, I read that Dutch crime rate is grossly underestimated, because the Dutch are no longer taking the effort to report crime: the bulk of all crimes reported is ignored by the police. It looks like the Dutch police has disintegrated into an introverted organization which is interested in itself only. The future of this country is that of a Mad Max desert where every man solves his own problems. Well, at least this means problems are solved.
1 comment:
Soms moet je volhouden om je recht te krijgen. Een jaar of vier geleden ben ik lastiggevallen in de trein door twee dronken agressieve vervelende lui. Ze zijn gepakt door de politie. Maar, als je niet aan de bel blijft hangen worden dit soort zaakjes geseponeerd, stukken raken weg, of zijn niet terug te vinden omdat "het systeem". "Het systeem" heb ik heel wat keren moeten horen als excuus. Ik heb officier De Kruik (ik weet de naam nog) een brief gestuurd dat in onze samenleving straf en wraak in handen zijn gegeven van een derde partij, en dat ik van die partij wat meer verwacht dan ik tot dan toe zag. Kortom: lapzwansch! (Geen antwoord.) Ook komt een verdachte gewoon niet opdagen bij zijn "zaak" en dan wordt een zitting weer verdaagd. Of, geseponeerd. En daar hoor je niks van, tenzij je ze elke week telefonisch op de nek zit om te informeren hoe het staat en waarom de zaak niet opnieuw is ingepland. De nederlandse rechtbank is geen instelling waar ik erg veel vertrouwen in heb, maar als je in je recht staat, hou dan vol, ze kunnen er niet onderuit tenzij je dat toelaat. Ik heb mijn schadevergoeding gekregen.
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