IIn the ten years that have passed since the murder of ex-minister Els Borst, has anything improved in the way police and emergency services deal with confused people who pose a danger to themselves and others? That question forms the basis of the six-part documentary series Confused of which BNNVara broadcast the first episode on Tuesday.
The answer to the question from documentary maker Jessica Villerius (known for the Televizierring award The children of Ruinerwold) cannot of course be given after the first broadcast. But you don’t have to be a clairvoyant to formulate a reasonable suspicion: no, things are not going in the right direction. Last year the police received twelve thousand reports of confused behavior, and that number is increasing drastically.
In 2014, ex-minister Borst was robbed of his life at home with 41 stab wounds by Bart van U., who later stated that he acted ‘on behalf of God’. The police tracked down Van U. a year after Borst’s death, when he was arrested for killing his sister. Numerous signals that Van U. posed an acute danger due to his mental condition were missed by the authorities. Now he has been sentenced to TBS.
For the first time since Borst’s death, her son Dirk talks about the tragedy. About the two long days between not being able to reach mother by phone and the police reporting that ‘a dead person’ had been found in her garage. Followed three days later by confirmation that she was ‘killed’. Understandable reluctance in the provision of information by the police, just one of the horrors to which surviving relatives are exposed. The conclusion of Borst’s children after that excruciatingly long period of uncertainty about what happened to the old, gentle woman: ‘A disturbed person must have done this.’
There is no sign of anger at the perpetrator in Dirk Borst. His compassion goes out to Van U.’s parents, with whom he has had frequent contact. For years they had turned to the police, emergency services and psychiatry for help for their son in vain, he says. But the parents’ request was always rejected. “Now, in addition to their daughter, they have also lost Bart.”
Villerius shows in the balanced Confused Fortunately, not only that emergency services and law enforcement, often due to complicated legislation and bureaucracy, fall short. She also pays attention to the tireless efforts of police officers who approach the confused man who has been living in the forest for a year and who verbally refuses all help. She talks to the conscientious neighbor of the boy who killed his mother. And she accompanies a SWAT team that has to overpower a psychotic man who has doused himself with gasoline and has a lighter ready.
These are all sad and frightening problems that society can hardly deal with. No matter how much many people try with all their heart and soul.
Tags: Docuseries Confused shows confused people falls short effort fault
