In 2013, the Netherlands faced a problem most countries would envy: they were running out of criminals. The Dutch government announced plans to close 19 prisons—not because of budget cuts or mismanagement, but because crime rates had dropped so dramatically that the cells were sitting empty.

This wasn't a one-time fluke. Just four years earlier in 2009, the country had already shuttered eight prisons for the same reason. The Netherlands had capacity for 14,000 prisoners but only 12,000 detainees, and that gap kept widening as crime continued its steady decline of about 0.9% annually.

Why Were Dutch Prisons Emptying Out?

The shrinking prison population came down to three key shifts in the criminal justice system. First, crime rates genuinely plummeted across the board. Second, judges started handing down shorter sentences, keeping people in custody for less time. But the real game-changer was the third factor: electronic tagging.

Instead of locking people up, convicted individuals could choose to wear an ankle monitor and serve their sentence at home. This wasn't just a feel-good alternative—it made brutal economic sense. Electronic monitoring saved approximately $50,000 per person per year compared to traditional incarceration. For every 1,000 people tagged instead of jailed, that's $50 million back in the budget.

More importantly, tagged individuals could continue working, supporting their families, and remaining productive members of society rather than sitting idle in a cell. They could maintain jobs, pay taxes, and avoid the career death sentence that often comes with incarceration.

The Ironic Problem: Too Few Prisoners

While empty prisons sound like a policy triumph, they created an unexpected crisis. The 2013 closures meant 1,900 prison employees would lose their jobs. Guards, administrators, kitchen staff, and maintenance workers faced unemployment because their country had become too safe.

Prison workers protested loudly, and the Dutch government came up with a surreal solution: they started importing prisoners from other countries. Belgium and Norway sent convicts to serve time in Dutch facilities, effectively renting cell space to keep some prisons operational and staff employed.

What Happened to the Empty Prisons?

The Netherlands didn't let these massive facilities rot. Empty prisons were converted into:

Refugee housing during Europe's migration crisis
Hotels and boutique accommodations for adventurous tourists
Artist studios and cultural centers
Office spaces and luxury apartments

One former prison in Roermond became a hotel where guests can sleep in converted cells. Another in Amsterdam houses asylum seekers. The Dutch approach has been pragmatic: if you don't need the cells for criminals, find another use.

The Bigger Picture

The Netherlands' prison closures reflect a fundamentally different philosophy about crime and punishment. While the United States incarcerates about 700 people per 100,000 residents, the Netherlands locks up fewer than 70 per 100,000—a tenfold difference.

The Dutch system prioritizes rehabilitation over punishment, focuses on keeping people out of the criminal justice system rather than in it, and invests heavily in alternatives to incarceration. The result? A country so safe it literally can't fill its prisons, even when it tries.

So yes, in 2013 the Netherlands really did schedule 19 prisons to close because they ran out of criminals. It's not a myth or exaggeration—it's what happens when a country takes crime prevention and rehabilitation seriously enough that punishment becomes almost obsolete.

Related Tags