Posted on 02/10/2005 6:16:24 PM PST by Cornpone
AMSTERDAM — Amsterdam police commissioner Bernard Welten has said the army should be called in to guard buildings in the city from terrorists.
Welten said there were 125 locations currently under extra police surveillance in Amsterdam to prevent possible terror attacks. The capital's police spent 100,000 officer-hours on guard duty last year, compared with 41,000 in 2003.
The demand for protection grew significantly following the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh. He was killed apparently because of his criticism of Islam.
Welten said many officers spent so much time on guard duty they could not do any other police work. He thus wants soldiers to replace his officers who are currently on guard duty.
Interior Minister Johan Remkes and Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen are studying his proposal to decide whether to give it the green light.
Don't they have anything like the U.S. Secret Service or some sort of diplomatic protection squad in that country?
This is simply providing security for facilities. In the USA, most of that is done not by the police or the military, but by contracted security agencies!
Bump for later
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