The Netherlands – Martin Sitalsing will be the new police chief of the Northern Netherlands unit as of 1 June 2023. He succeeds Gery Veldhuis, who recently stepped down. Martin Sitalsing has been the police chief of the Central Netherlands unit since October 2019.
Sitalsing about his transfer: ‘I’m still having a great time in Central Netherlands. That makes the decision to switch not an easy one. But I would like to seize the opportunity to return to the North, where I spent a large part of my previous career with the police, mental health care and youth protection. I am very much looking forward to working in the Northern Netherlands on themes such as subversion, digital crime and asylum issues.’
Career
Martin Sitalsing started his career in 1983 as an accountant, but soon started working as a police officer in Amsterdam. There he subsequently held a number of managerial positions, including chief of detectives, chief of social integration teams, chief of district teams and commander of the arrest unit. He then became district chief (commissioner) of Groningen and Haren. At that time he was “lent” to Suriname for several months, where he researched the development of a police function in Suriname. From 2005 to 2009, Sitalsing was deputy chief of police of the Friesland police region and then chief of police of the Twente police region until 2012. He then took a step outside the police force, as director and director of Youth Protection North and chairman of the board of directors of Lentis in Groningen, a mental health institution with the largest TBS clinic in our country. Since October 2019 he has been the police chief of Central Netherlands.
Experience and involvement
Chief of Police Henk van Essen warmly congratulates Sitalsing on his transfer: “With him, the Northern Netherlands will have a police chief with a wealth of experience, much of which was also gained in the north of the country. I am delighted that he will now use his experience and his great involvement in a police force that is connected to society in the Northern Netherlands. I have every confidence that he, together with the other members of the unit leadership, will provide guidance to the unit in a committed and people-oriented manner.’
Sitalsing will continue its national commitment to the Police for Everyone and to Care and Security. The procedure for filling the vacancy of police chief Central Netherlands has now been set in motion.
Information source: Politie.nl
