ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s, policy makers of the Dutch Prison Service faced two critical problems.2 First, there were too many prisoners for the available number of cells. Cell shortage had in past decades not been unusual (see Chapter 3), but the number of people sent away as a result reached record highs in these years. Second, a number of high profile escapes occurred. The overall number of escapes was actually declining, but the escapes that did occur were spectacular – using, for example, helicopters to escape – and violence was used, especially during escapes from Special Security Units (SSUs).
