The outage occurred between approximately 2:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. The cause is still unknown, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice and Security tells NU.nl. This is currently being researched.

According to the spokesperson for the ministry, control rooms were still able to communicate with emergency services during the outage. "In the meantime, control rooms will switch to an emergency procedure."

You can see the C2000 network as the police's own mobile network. Officers on the street are in communication with each other and with the control room via this communication system. Other emergency services, including the fire brigade and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, also use the network.

There have been serious concerns about the C2000 network for some time now. A whistleblower warned earlier this month that the problems are so great that sooner or later there will be victims.

A new communication system is being worked on, says the ministry. "That is not something you have from one moment to the next. Now the main thing is that the current system does its job."

The problems show how sensitive the network is to disruptions, spokesperson Maarten Brink previously told NU.nl on behalf of the four Dutch police unions. "That leads to life-threatening situations."

According to him, officers in several police regions were called back to the station because their safety could no longer be guaranteed. Special investigating officers (boas) were also retrieved, according to Brink.

A spokesman for the police force denies that officers have been recalled. The ministry could not say anything further about this.