Royal Marechaussee Making the difference

Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the difference

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is a gendarmerie corps: a police force with military status. That means that our personnel are policemen and women as well as being military personnel. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is deployable in all situations at home and abroad for security, making the difference when the going gets tough.

3 History

1814: King Willem I signs the decree to establish a Corps de Maréchaussée.

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee safeguards the 1908: Queen Wilhelmina assigns the task of guarding security of the State, both in of the royal palaces to the Royal Netherlands the Netherlands and further Marechaussee afi eld. It is deployed at locations of strategic importance. From royal 1919: The Corps of Police Troops is established to palaces to the external borders uphold law and order at home and to supervise of Europe. From airports in the the post-First World War demobilisation. Netherlands to theatres of war and crisis areas all over the world. The Royal Netherlands 1954: Royal Decree assigning border control tasks Marechaussee is fl exible, to the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. robust and deployable in any situation.

1988: Police tasks of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee laid down in the Police Act.

1994: Responsibility for policing and security tasks at the airports is transferred to the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee.

1998: The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee becomes an independent Service of the .

2007: The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is granted full investigative powers. 200 2014: The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee celebrates its bicentenary.

4 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diff ence Organisation

The Commander of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Management of and authority over the commands an organisation comprising more than 6,000 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee are men and women, both civilian and military personnel. separated. The Minister of Defence is responsible for the management. The The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee consists of five Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is, after districts, each divided into brigades with a specific task all, part of the armed forces. That means or specific security region in the Netherlands or the that the Minister of Defence bears ultimate Caribbean Netherlands. Marechaussee personnel are responsibility for such matters as trained at the National Centre for Training and Expertise. personnel, materiel and finances. Like the police force, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has a corps manager. That role is fulfilled by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defence, with a mandate from the Minister of Defence.

Authority The relevant authority decides how and when the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is deployed. That authority lies with West District various ministries. Depending on the task, Wadden Area Brigade North-East District they are: the Ministry of Security and Drenthe-IJsselstreek Brigade South District Justice (including the Public Prosecution Service and the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Ministry of Defence.

North Holland Brigade Foreign Missions Brigade Armed Forces and Operational Support Brigade Brigade Criminal Investigation Brigade National Centre for Training and Expertise National and International Operations District Schiphol District Brigade Eastern Border-North Brigade Special Security Missions Brigade Security Brigade Veluwe Brigade Eastern Border-Central Brigade

The Caribbean Brigade North Brabant/North Limburg South Brabant Brigade Scheldt Estuary Brigade South Limburg Brigade

5 6 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee checks persons crossing the borders and combats forms of crime which are not stopped by borders, wherever it may serve the interests of the State. In the Netherlands that means guarding the European external border at airports, seaports and along the coast. It also carries out Mobile Security Monitoring at internal Schengen borders. By participating in Frontex, the European border control agency, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee makes an important contribution to the guarding of Europe’s external borders in other EU member states.

Border police

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is responsible for securing the Dutch borders and serves as the border police force. To this end, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is active in the Netherlands and at the external borders of Europe.

7 Border police at airports What is a Schengen The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is the border police force at the Dutch country? airports Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rott erdam The Hague Airport, Eindhoven The Schengen countries have agreed that there can be Airport, Maastricht Aachen Airport and free movement of persons and goods between Groningen Eelde Airport. At the other countries. That means that there are no longer any airports in The Netherlands the Royal border checks between the countries; there is a single Netherlands Marechaussee carries out external border. This has been laid down in the border control. The Royal Netherlands Schengen Agreement. The Schengen countries have Marechaussee also carries out border made arrangements concerning visa policy, asylum control at the following airports in the policy and the cooperation between the police and Caribbean Netherlands: Flamingo Airport the judiciary. The Schengen Agreement is part of (Bonaire), Roosevelt Airport (St Eustatius) regulations, but non-EU countries and Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport (Saba). may also join. The border control involves the following activities:

• Checking passengers upon entry to and departure from the Netherlands; • Denying entry to persons not meeting the conditions for entry; • Consulting the computerised tracking system for suspect persons and implementing sentences and sanctions; • Carrying out checks at the gate in order to prevent illegal immigration and abuse of the political asylum procedure; • Carrying out Mobile Security Monitoring on fl ights within the Schengen area; • Collecting, analysing and sharing information with other security organisations and other types of organisations. With its border control activities, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee makes an important contribution to national security Border control at seaports by combating terrorism, drug smuggling, The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee also money laundering and all other forms of guards the Netherlands’ external European cross-border crime. The border control border, consisting of the coastline and also contributes to the enforcement of seaports. The border control at this aliens legislation by preventing illegal maritime border is carried out at immigration, people smuggling and permanent border posts, as well as by human traffi cking. means of patrols on the water and (in cooperation with chain partners) aerial While carrying out border control and reconnaissance. Mobile Security Monitoring, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee collects a great deal of information. If possible, that information is shared with other investigative bodies.

8 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diff ence Emergency documents

When travelling abroad, people must be in possession Enforcement of aliens of a valid travel document. If a person is not in legislation possession of such a document, they can, under strict As part of its activities relating to conditions, obtain an emergency passport from the enforcement of aliens legislation, the Royal Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Netherlands Marechaussee deals with the initial reception of asylum seekers who request asylum as soon as they reach the border. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee escorts aliens to their country of origin, looks after the handover to foreign authorities of aliens under a deportation order and takes charge of Dutch nationals unwelcome in other countries. Personnel of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee receive special training to carry out these specific tasks humanely and with respect for all those involved.

Top-level document expertise

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee makes an Mobile Security Monitoring important contribution to combating and preventing The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee identity fraud. Its Identity Fraud and Documents carries out the Mobile Security Monitoring Centre of Expertise (ECID) at Schiphol Airport serves near the internal borders with and as the national nerve centre in the areas of identity . Mobile Security Monitoring fraud and identity documents. The centre studies, concentrates on travellers entering the analyses and catalogues forged or counterfeit Netherlands from other Schengen documents and the latest trends in the field. countries and takes place in the Dutch Furthermore, there are four regional RNLM ID Desks border region up to 20 kilometers from the in the Netherlands. They employ document experts border. The Royal Netherlands who are specialised in travel, identity and residence Marechaussee generally carries out documentation at the highest level. They are point of targeted checks on the basis of risk contact for the police for questions concerning the profiles, as well as conducting random authenticity of documents. checks. Mobile Security Monitoring includes checks in trains, on the water, at airports and on the roads.

9 Worldwide deployment

10 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence The integrity and the proper functioning of the armed forces is of great importance to the State of the Netherlands. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee serves as a police force for all elements of the Defence organisation, such as the , the Royal Netherlands and the Royal Netherlands Air Force. For that reason, Marechaussee brigades and posts are stationed at barracks, military air bases and naval ports, as well as with units of the Netherlands armed forces abroad. The Marechaussee also serves as a police force for all foreign armed forces stationed in the Netherlands; Marechaussee personnel also work at the various international military headquarters.

The military police task of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is twofold. On some occasions, the activities of the Marechaussee are preventive and service-oriented; at other times, they are more repressive in nature. Examples of preventive activities are patrols, traffic duties, maintaining order during exercises, column escorts and giving advice and information to commanders and their personnel. The repressive activities of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee focus on monitoring observance of the Road Traffic Act and environmental legislation, as well as the investigation of criminal offences committed by military personnel (even if those personnel are off duty). Criminal investigations against military personnel are conducted, inter alia, under the authority of the Public Prosecution Service in .

Military missions Dutch military personnel work all over the world during armed conflicts or peacekeeping missions. And Royal Netherlands Marechaussee personnel almost always go with them. They are the police force for military personnel abroad as well, so they deal with offences, accidents and so on, in which military personnel are involved. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee carries out police tasks for the Defence organisation and, in addition, can be deployed anywhere in the world as a Police missions gendarmerie force: both a military and a police force. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee may also be called upon to participate in police missions. During those For instance in areas where the local police force is in missions, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee can help in the process of being established, after an armed the reconstruction of a police force in the mission area. conflict. These types of mission are ideally suited to Their task would then be to observe the performance of a gendarmerie force such as the Royal Netherlands the local civilian police, train police personnel, monitor the Marechaussee. organisation and advise on improvements.

11 Security & Surveillance

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is responsible for ensuring that installations and persons vital to the State are able to function without disruption. The most striking examples are the Royal House and the Central Bank of the Netherlands. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee provides the security for installations and persons, both at home and abroad, and is authorised to use force if the situation requires it. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has special resources and skills for this task.

The Royal House events. When foreign heads of state are One of the tasks of the Royal Netherlands received at a Dutch airport, Marechaussee Marechaussee is to safeguard the security personnel form a at the of the members of the Royal House, a task aircraft. They also provide motorcycle it shares with the Royal and Diplomatic escorts for the vehicles of foreign heads of Security Service of the police force. Security states and when new foreign diplomats is provided at the various palaces: Huis ten come to present their Letters of Credence Bosch, Noordeinde, Het Loo, Drakenstein to the sovereign. and Villa Eikenhorst. Anyone wanting to enter one of these premises is checked by The Commander of the Royal Netherlands the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Marechaussee is also the Governor of the Residency (The Hague) and in that capacity In addition to the security tasks at the royal he is responsible for all military ceremonies palaces, Marechaussee personnel also held in that city, for instance during carry out ceremonial duties. In their , the official opening of ceremonial dress, they could, for example, Parliament. form a guard of honour during special

12 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence Civil aviation security particularly in areas where there is a heightened risk. This At designated Dutch airports, the Royal Netherlands task is carried out by the Special Security Missions Brigade Marechaussee supervises the protection of departing (BSB). passenger flights against terrorist attacks. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee monitors the security companies which carry out the security checks on Central Bank of the Netherlands passengers and baggage. If, during such checks, items are Security transports of the Central Bank of the Netherlands found that would be dangerous on board the flight, the which take place by road are escorted by motorcyclists and Royal Netherlands Marechaussee will take measures. The armoured vehicles of the Special Security Missions Royal Netherlands Marechaussee also conducts security Brigade. In addition, three security experts from the Royal surveillance at the airports. Extra security measures, such as Netherlands Marechaussee, who are based at the bank’s the deployment of air marshals, are implemented for premises in Amsterdam, have been giving security advice high-risk flights to protect the passengers and the aircraft. to the Central Bank since 2013. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has sniffer dogs which can be used to search for weapons or explosives and in the event of a bomb alert. Security and Surveillance Centre of Expertise The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee also carries out the The Security and Surveillance Centre of Expertise (ECBB ) of police tasks at airports in the Netherlands and the Caribbean the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee provides knowledge Netherlands designated in the Aviation Act. Its and expertise, in particular to Marechaussee brigades with responsibilities then include maintaining public order, security and surveillance duties. The Centre of Expertise providing emergency assistance and preventing crime. One comprises a security room and a Quality and Innovation of the airports where the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Division. It functions as the central point of contact within serves as the police force is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. the Marechaussee for matters and questions relating to security and surveillance and is a relevant player for chain partners and other external parties. The ECBB assesses and Personal protection analyses information regarding imminent and potential One of the tasks of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is threats and gives deployment advice to operation units. personal protection. Marechaussee personnel provide This way the expertise is accessible to all chain partners, personal protection for high-ranking military personnel, ensuring efficient cooperation in providing security for the politicians and diplomats, both at home and abroad, Netherlands.

13 14 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence Assistance The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has a national assistance organisation which provides support for the Marechaussee’s own tasks and if necessary provides assistance to the police.

The units of the assistance organisation support to local police forces after a can be deployed for riot squad or special disaster or conflict in maintaining public assistance tasks. The regular riot squad is order or providing security for aid workers. deployed at events, demonstrations, riots In this context, the Royal Netherlands and for security tasks. The special assis- Marechaussee is geared towards coopera­ tance unit of the Royal Netherlands tion with other European gendarmerie Marechaussee can maintain public order if forces. The assistance organisation also a situation escalates beyond the means of provides support to arrest teams and other regular riot control, for instance if firearms special units. are used against the police, or in situations involving explosives or extreme violence. Together with other units and organisa- Special Security Missions tions, the assistance organisation can also The Special Security Missions Brigade be deployed for security and surveillance (BSB) is deployed whenever rapid, tasks, for instance in the event of a high specialist action is required. The BSB threat alert or if the vital interests of the operates independently, but can also act in State are at stake. cooperation with police or military units. The brigade has, for example, its own The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee security, observation and arrest teams. deploys the assistance organisation as flexibly as possible, which means that the That means that this unit can be deployed deployment can quickly be adapted to the for a wide array of tasks, ranging from situation and the surroundings. Constant forced entries into buildings and the adaptation allows for swift and decisive protection of objects and individuals to the action and can prevent unnecessary identification of explosives. The personal escalation. protective equipment is adapted to the nature of the brigade’s operations, and The assistance organisation can also be allows the BSB to be deployed for large- deployed rapidly in an international scale, difficult or covert operations both at context anywhere in the world, to provide home and abroad.

15 Criminal investigation

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has investigators who work on cases involving criminal offences that come to light during routine tasks.

Royal Netherlands Marechaussee The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee which are specialised in investigating a investigators investigate, for instance, employs several different types of particular form of crime. There are, for criminal organisations which are involved investigators. There are tactical instance, teams which focus on in people smuggling and human investigators, who gather and analyse investigating migration crime, while others trafficking, but also criminal offences information, and who also interview are specialised in investigating sexual committed by military personnel and suspects. Another division is the technical offences or drug-related crime. crimes committed at Dutch civilian investigation division. The tasks of those airports. They also very often provide investigators include gathering forensic In addition, the Royal Netherlands support to the police, for instance in evidence. Marechaussee has investigative experts investigations which are of national who provide the necessary specialist importance or which require specialist The investigators of the Royal Netherlands support to the investigation teams. They knowledge. Marechaussee generally work in teams include digital and financial experts.

16 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence The Caribbean

On 10 October 2010, the islands of Bonaire, Antillean and Aruban militias and at the On Curaçao, St Maarten and Aruba, the Saba and St Eustatius each acquired the military locations in the Caribbean parts of Royal Netherlands Marechaussee provides status of ‘special municipality’ of the the Kingdom. The brigade also works support to the government authorities in Netherlands. Together these islands now together with the local police and the areas of border control, the monitoring form the Caribbean Netherlands. The Coastguard in fighting crime. The Royal of aliens, fighting serious violent crime, as Caribbean parts of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Marechaussee carries out well as drug-related and migration crime. Netherlands also include the countries of border control on the islands of the Curaçao, St Maarten and Aruba. Caribbean Netherlands and is responsible Due to its activities throughout the islands, for all police tasks at the airports of Bonaire, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is a The Caribbean Brigade of the Royal Saba and St Eustatius. On Saba and St vital player in matters concerning the Netherlands Marechaussee provides the Eustatius the Royal Netherlands security of the Caribbean parts of the police service for the Dutch military Marechaussee also provides the basic police Netherlands. personnel, the personnel of the (former) services, together with the local police.

17 Cooperation The tasks of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee are closely connected with other organisations in the Netherlands and abroad. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is therefore strongly focused on cooperation with relevant domestic and foreign partners.

The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is Police Frontex focused on and equipped for the sharing of All officials with police tasks provide The Netherlands is a member of Frontex, expertise and information and makes assistance to each other. That means that the European agency for the coordination personnel available on a permanent basis the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee often of international cooperation on the for a wide range of local, national and works in cooperation with the police. That external borders of the EU. The agency, international cooperation projects. cooperation may vary from providing which has its headquarters in Warsaw, specialists for large-scale police checks to , ensures better border control by participating in criminal investigations. In coordinating combined operations on the National cooperation the event of an emergency, such as an external borders of the European Union. With regard to monitoring border traffic, accident or a robbery, the Royal The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Netherlands Marechaussee can provide makes its knowledge and expertise concentrates its efforts on persons and the emergency assistance. At various locations available to Frontex and in the past years Customs Service concentrates on goods. near large barracks, the Royal Netherlands has taken part in Frontex operations in, for Both services work in close cooperation in Marechaussee carries out surveillance instance, Italy, Greece and . order to facilitate border traffic and the tasks in nightlife areas, together with the monitoring thereof. regional police. The starting point for Joint Border Coordination Centre cooperation is always both organisations’ In the eastern border regions, the Royal Liquid Assets Cooperative Arrangement own tasks. Netherlands Marechaussee works in close The Liquid Assets Cooperative cooperation with the Bundespolizei (the Arrangement is a collaboration between The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is German federal police) in the Joint Border officials from the Fiscal Intelligence and also in permanent cooperation with Coordination Centre (GGC) in Goch, Investigation Service and the Royal various other government authorities, such Germany. The GGC combats illegal border Netherlands Marechaussee. This bundling as the Repatriation and Departure Service, crossing and illegal residence of persons in of forces is expected to result in more the Coastguard, the Immigration and the Netherlands and Germany by effective and efficient use of the Naturalisation Service and the General exchanging information intended for investigation capacity at Schiphol Airport. Intelligence and Security Service. colleagues ‘in the street’. The GGC is Going by the motto that “crime should not manned 24/7 by personnel of the Royal pay”, the aim is to confiscate illegally Netherlands Marechaussee and the obtained money as much as possible. The European cooperation Bundespolizei. cooperation mainly targets money couriers European Gendarmerie Force and money laundering. Many criminals are The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is a Cross-border Police Team unwilling to use bank transfers, and often participant in the European Gendarmerie The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee eager to settle cash transactions quickly. Force (EUROGENDFOR). EUROGENDFOR is plays an active role in the Cross-border For this they may use air, road or rail a multinational cooperative body of police Police Team (GPT), which also includes transport. If the Customs Service forces with military status from countries personnel from the Dutch police, the encounters liquid assets such as bank including France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Bundespolizei, other German police forces notes or securities with an indication for It consists of around 800 military police and the German Customs Service. The GPT investigation on a person, they will transfer personnel, operates under the aegis of the carries out checks in mixed groups on both the case to the Liquid Assets Cooperative European Union and is mainly deployed sides of the German-Netherlands border. Arrangement. after conflict situations. It has its head- This allows the services involved to make quarters in Vicenza, Italy. EUROGENDFOR better use of each other’s powers and can also be deployed for other information. international organisations, such as the and NATO, or for an ad hoc coalition.

18 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence Cooperation

19 Training

Specific training and keeping knowledge up to date are important aspects for Royal Netherlands Marechaussee personnel. For this purpose, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has its own training centre. The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Centre for Training and Expertise in is one of the oldest institutes for police training in the Netherlands.

20 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence The training consists of initial training for Police Academy. There are various document specialists, training for riot Marechaussee security guards and general educational paths which can be followed, squads and assistance units and foreign investigators (training for the rank of depending on the student’s prior deployment training for peace operations sergeant). The sergeants are trained to be education. to comprehensive skills training for all able to work in all task areas. All training operational personnel. The centre is also programmes begin with military training. The centre also provides all specialist responsible for knowledge acquisition and training programmes for the Royal exploitation. The officer training programme is taught in Netherlands Marechaussee. These cooperation with the Netherlands Defence programmes comprise a wide variety of Academy (NLDA) and the Netherlands subjects, ranging from training for

21 22 Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Making the diffence

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Information about the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee: www.marechaussee.nl

This brochure was published by: Royal Netherlands Marechaussee Communications Department

May 2015

Design: X-media | MCD

Translation: Netherlands Ministry of Defence Translation Service