Public Prosecution Service donates items stolen by criminals to charities

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NOS News•today, 8:05 PM

Today, for the first time, the Public Prosecution Service in Breda distributed free items seized from criminals. This is a trial in which stolen goods such as clothing and toys are donated to charities.

Various charities from the region came to the court to collect the more than 200 goods. For example, a foundation from Teteringen received a box full of cordless drills and other tools. “We give it all a new life. Everything goes to Kenya or Uganda,” says Robert Maier of the foundation to Omroep Brabant.

The police confiscate an average of 2,000 objects every month in the Zeeland-West Brabant region. All drugs, weapons and mobile phones are destroyed anyway, but other goods are also often incinerated. Every product that is stored must be registered and that takes a lot of time. Expensive goods are sold and fill the public coffers.

The government believes that stolen goods should be given a public destination more often. Three different regions are therefore now conducting a trial with donations. The conditions: the items come from theft, have a value of a maximum of 100 euros each and the donations may not be resold.

“This is the first attempt,” says Hanneke Festen, deputy chief public prosecutor in Breda. Yet she is already enthusiastic. “If it is a success, we will also do this in the rest of the Netherlands.”