THE HAGUE--Resigned Dutch National Police Chief Gerard Bouman will be carrying out work in the Caribbean Netherlands for the local police force, announced Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur on Thursday.
Bouman will be placed in charge of an advisory project of the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force KPCN for a period of eight weeks. The advisory project will deal with the position and future vision of the KPCN, according to Van der Steur.
Bouman resigned as National Police Chief per February 1, 2016. Nonetheless, he will remain in service for another 21 months. During this period, he will look for another job and carry out temporary work; he will keep his salary, which amounts to about 185,000 euros over 2016.
The police chief made national headlines in August 2015 after a report on his visit to St. Maarten in July that year was leaked. Bouman made clear during his visit that he didn’t want to cooperate with the St. Maarten Police Force and the local government due to alleged corruption. “The criminal undermining of society and the integrity issues are of extremely worrisome proportions,” stated Bouman.
In Bouman’s opinion, the KPSM and the St. Maarten Government were corrupt and as such their cooperation was unnecessary when the Netherlands would send 55 Dutch policemen and detectives to the island in the near future. He made this clear in a meeting with then Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Justice Minister Dennis Richardson.
The remarks led to an emergency meeting in The Hague late August 2015. In attendance were Minister of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk, Minister Van der Steur and Minister Richardson. Bouman was not present at that meeting.
