Research Exploratory research: the challenges involved in policing remote areas Written on Monday, May 26, 2025 What are the challenges the police face in remote areas? And how do police officers working there build relationships with local communities? Researchers from the Netherlands Police Academy examined these questions in their exploratory research ‘Politiewerk in verre uithoeken’ (Policing remote areas). They did so by looking at five relatively remote frontline teams: Ommelanden-Noord (Groningen province), Den Helder (North Holland), Achterhoek-Oost (Gelderland), Zeeuws Vlaanderen (Zeeland) and Brunssum-Landgraaf (Limburg). The research was conducted between September 2023 and April 2024. ‘According to scholars, local knowledge and proximity are important aspects of rural policing’, Teun Meurs says. He is senior lecturer of Area-based Policing at the Police Academy. ‘But there is also a growing sense of dissatisfaction and distrust towards the authorities within society. You might conclude that there is a widening gap between the authorities and citizens.’ ‘What does this mean for the police and how are they dealing with this trend in rural areas? How did this gap come about? Are the police themselves perhaps partly to blame for it? That’s what we wanted to find out. In addition, the majority of research is done in urban areas. We believe it’s important to also pay attention to rural areas to see what’s going on there.’ Remoteness within the police organisation The use of the Dutch word ‘uithoek’ (literally: remote corner) led to discussions in several frontline teams. Teun: ‘We deliberately used the term as a conversation starter to see how people reacted to it. Did it make them feel heard or did they take offence?’ ‘The teams’ views of the outside world differed. Zeeuws Vlaanderen is truly far from the rest of the Netherlands. Brunssum-Landgraaf may be located at the Netherlands’ very edge, but is also part of an international urban region that includes cities such as Heerlen, Aachen and Liège. But what all researched areas have in common is that police officers there feel that they work in a neglected corner of their organisation. That’s what struck me. The officers also came up with some striking examples. The most mundane being the allocation of insufficient resources.’ ❛❛ It’s important to recognise that these areas face different types of problems, many of them community-specific Lecturer Teun Meurs Not an average urban area They also mentioned less obvious issues. ‘For example, that a police helicopter needs to travel a long way to refuel. That police personnel from remote areas need to drive long distances to be able to use specialist police services. Or the fact that such services are simply lacking to begin with.’ ‘And, not unimportantly, that P2000 devices do not function in some outlying areas. That really shows that the police organisation was mainly conceived and set up with an average urban area in mind. That goes for the frontline teams, support services and personnel management. But that set-up does not always meet the specific needs of remote areas. And that is a very strong sentiment there. I thought that was an interesting first finding.’ Eye for building long-term relationships Policing rural areas is different from policing urban areas. That’s something that came up in all areas we visited. ‘A lot of it has to do with the greater distances’, says Teun. ‘As a result, you’re more often working by yourself or with a single colleague.’ ‘What we often heard is that when an call comes in, officers tend to wait ten minutes before going to the scene, just to make sure there is backup, if this is available at all. Consequently, officers need a whole range of skills to be able to handle emergency calls in these areas.’ ‘There is a bigger demand for social skills and an eye for building long-term relationships, because you’re likely to meet someone again. We knew this from prior research on rural policing and we saw clear confirmation of this picture in our own results.’ Reactive and proactive proximity That is where the idea of ‘reactive proximity’ comes in. ‘Police officers respond to calls and if they live in the area and speak the language they can use this to their advantage. Sometimes incidents are settled on the spot, rather than making a 45-minute drive to the nearest police station.’ ‘What we heard about less frequently is proactive proximity. We use this term to refer to an approach where we invest in relationships with communities before any incident has occurred. This gives the police a good idea of what’s going on and allows us to help small rural centres and communities with tailor-made solutions. But, unfortunately, this is something we’ve rarely seen in these areas. It’s not that community police officers aren’t trying, but they’re struggling with the long distances and too little time. This is cause for concern.’ New reticence A specific concern lies in the fact that things are changing in the rural areas researched. ‘For example, new communities have appeared in these areas. Migrant workers and asylum seekers, for example, but also people from the Western Netherlands who moved to the countryside.’ ‘These groups are not always easy to approach. But the same seems to be true for groups that we’ve known for a long time, such as the farmers’ community and young people. It is increasingly difficult to connect with these groups as well. That’s what we’ve called ‘new reticence.’ ‘This is a reflection of general social developments, such as distrust towards the authorities, further amplified by local issues. For example, the earthquakes in Groningen, farmers’ protests in De Achterhoek or dwindling services in Zeeuws Vlaanderen. But developments within the police organisation also play a role. For example, some local police stations have closed down and community police officers sometimes have less time for personal contact.’ Undermining crime Local issues often stay under the radar. ‘Crime that undermines society is a perfect example’, says Teun. ‘It was mentioned by four out of five teams. We call this a blank spot. You know that this type of crime exists and that it’s going on, but there is no time to do anything about it.’ ‘I found that remarkable. Given the amount of attention for crime that undermines society in the past fifteen or twenty years, I thought there would be people, resources, knowledge and expertise available by now. Still, it seems that remote areas are lagging behind when it comes to this issue. Sometimes there is only a suspicion, or the occasional discovery of a drug waste dump or drug lab. There are indications that something’s going on, but the picture is far from clear.’ Recognition of local issues ‘These issues cannot be solved just by increasing capacity’, Teun adds. ‘Because what if you used this extra capacity to have three cars on the road for emergency assistance instead of one? Then you would still be doing the same thing. What’s also needed is making the knowledge and expertise available to tackle the hidden challenges that are specific to remote areas.’ ‘These challenges can take the form of undermining crime, or exploitation resulting from undermining, or nuisance caused by exploitation. But it may also involve problems occurring in homes, like domestic violence, which may stem, for example, from stress caused by earthquakes. That’s not something you notice while driving on provincial roads on emergency assistance duty. It’s important to recognise that these areas face different types of problems, many of them community-specific. This does not only require additional capacity, but also specific expertise.’ Main research ‘Politiewerk in verre uithoeken’ The researchers elaborated on their conclusions from the exploratory research in their main research ‘Politiewerk in verre uithoeken’. ‘In addition to blank spots, the teams were now asked to identify red flags. These are topics that the teams feel should be given extra attention. We’ll be working with the teams to tackle these issues. They feel there’s a huge need to build long-term relationships with the various communities. And to start tackling hidden issues.’ ‘The teams and team leaders are more than eager. But the lack of capacity, specialist knowledge and action patterns make it hard to really invest in new ways of working. As researchers, we offer them some instruments to enable them to learn more about specific themes. For instance, by quick knowledge utilisation and peer reviews.’ ‘The main research focuses on collaborating with the teams to collect knowledge about current issues in remote areas. At the same time, we’re testing new ways to establish connections. As researchers, we hope that by collaborating with the teams we can make a genuine contribution to revitalising area-based policing.’