The Netherlands has been locking up people as a form of punishment
for quite some time.
The Custodial Institutions Agency, or simply DJI,
carries out this task on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Security.
The punishments and measures handed down by the judge
are enforced by well-trained and motivated personnel.
This makes DJI a specialist in detention.
A large organisation that employs more than 14,000 people.
DJI contributes to the safety of every one of us,
by enforcing punishments and measures handed down by the judge.
This can happen within the walls of the correctional institution,
but also outside of one.
Every person detained at DJI is called a detainee.
DJI prepares detainees for their return to society.
This is done to prevent them from reverting to criminal behaviour.
We call this: reducing recidivism.
The correctional institutions hand out 80,000 sandwiches per day.
Approximately 11 million kilometres are travelled per year
for transport and support.
And an average cell measures 5 x 2 x 2.5 metres.
Linen must be washed for more than 11,000 beds.
An adult detainee spends an average of 3.5 months behind bars.
There are different types of detainees.
Adult detainees, juveniles, patients and foreign nationals.
They aren't all held in the same type of prison.
Adult detainees on pre-trial, suspected of committing a crime,
are held in a remand centre.
These individuals are sent to prison after conviction by a judge.
The employees are trained specifically by the DJI training institute
to ensure safety in the correctional institutions.
They work with the detainees to build a socially acceptable existence
after they have served their time.
The detainee must show that he wants to take responsibility by behaving well
and by actively partaking in his or her reintegration.
This is possible by working in one of the workshops in the prison,
or by following specific courses.
If they don't do this,
they will face reduced participation in activities like sports,
or will have reduced visitation rights.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that as few detainees as possible
take up crime again once released.
Juveniles who have committed a criminal offence or are suspected thereof,
are held in a correctional institution for juvenile offenders.
In the Netherlands, approximately 2,200 juveniles
are held in such an institution each year.
Most of them are between sixteen and twenty-one years old.
All correctional institutions for juvenile offenders
work with the same basic methodology: U-turn.
With this methodology it all revolves around
learning skills and individual responsibility.
Juveniles follow mandatory education during their detention term,
and treatment is an important part.
Each juvenile follows a personal future-oriented trajectory
which aims to ensure that he no longer shows criminal behaviour.
The role of parents is also important.
They are invited for regular talks in the juvenile correctional institution,
and are present at parents evenings or at graduation ceremonies.
Detention is a costly matter.
Each day more than 11,000 individuals are in custody.
This costs approximately 2 billion euros per year.
That's a lot of money.
DJI invests in the future by introducing things like video calls,
which allows the judge to talk
to an offender and his or her lawyer through a monitor.
That saves costs for transport to and from the court.
Also, multi-inmate cells can be introduced more often.
The Transport and Support service
is responsible for the transport of detainees and those arrested.
More than 150,000 transport turns take place each year.
The Transport and Support service is also responsible for maintaining order,
for the searches using drug protection dogs
and for evacuations of correctional institutions.
Complex security and police support are also some of the tasks
carried out by this department.
Forensic care is usually imposed by the judge.
It forms part of a punishment or measure
for people who suffer from a mental or psychiatric disorder,
who committed a criminal offence.
The best-known measure within forensic care
is the forensic psychiatric treatment measure.
A personal treatment plan is prepared for a patient in forensic care.
The purpose of such a plan is to change the person's behaviour
to such an extent that he does not commit a crime again.
Forensic care also works hard each day
to ensure that the patient can return to society safely.
Other authorities, like the Probation department
take care of the patient's needs once the treatment has been completed.
Another group that DJI encounters is foreign nationals.
Immigration detention is a very complicated matter.
DJI works closely with many other organisations
like the police and the Central Agency for the reception of asylum seekers.
A last resort, such as immigration detention, may be chosen
when someone tries to prevent deportation to the country of origin.
It generally applies that people who have been refused entry at the border,
and people who are not allowed to stay in the Netherlands any longer,
yet refuse to leave, end up in immigration detention.
They are then deported to their own country as prescribed by the law.
The period for which they're held
depends on the actual foreign national's willingness to cooperate.
If the foreign national cooperates, the period can be shortened dramatically.
DJI ensures during the immigration detention phase,
that cooperation organisations get all the room they need
to allow for the best possible preparation for the person's deportation.
Besides the Transport and Support service, and the DJI training institute,
there are 3 other national agencies:
The Netherlands Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology,
the Spiritual Care Service and the Shared Service Centres.
DJI employees work in buildings that are tailored especially
to the enforcement of punishments and measures.
They are trained intensively by the DJI Training Institute.
to work in a trustworthy, professional, respectful and people-oriented manner.
This in turn allows for peace and safety in the correctional institutions.
By maintaining this working method,
DJI strives to ensure that people don't take up crime again once released.