Researchers for the Tijdschrift voor Criminologie (Journal of Criminology) claim
this week that over half of Dutch Moroccan youths have come into contact with
the police: some 54% of young Dutch Moroccan men, compared with 23% of
young men in the country overall.
The research report was picked up by several newspapers offering differing
commentaries on the results. Dutch News notes that the research does not
indicate how frequently police contact resulted in charges and convictions. The
NIS News, on the other hand, reports that more than half of the Dutch Moroccan
youths “have committed one or more crimes before they reached the age of 22”.
The researchers do not conclude why Dutch Moroccan youth are
overrepresented in crime statistics. They suggest that low socioeconomic status
and cultural factors may play a role, as well as citing Belgian research indicating
that police are more likely to question immigrant youths than white natives.
