Blaming and shaming after Alphen shopping mall shooting enquiry

It is almost irresistable to start a blaming and shaming cycle after something terrible has happened, particularly when any human intervention might have prevented or ameliorated any grave consequences. The very same will happen after today's public report on the April shooting in a shopping mall in Alphen, The Netherlands. In fact, it has already started.

Some factual context: On April 9th of this year a terrible shooting occurred in a shopping mall in the medium size city of Alphen on the Rhine. A young man, Tristan van der V., entered the mall and started spraying around bullets from several guns, apparently for no particular purpose. He walked the various passages for only a few minutes, killing six and wounding a large number of shopkeepers and visitors, at the end taking his own life. Today, Monday July 11, the results of a public enquiry were published at a press conference at the very same city, located between Amsterdam and The Hague.

The persons behind the conference table represented the various government agencies who are involved in a disaster like this. The chief prosecutor stands for the criminal investigation and prosecution aspects, the Mayor of Alphen is responsible for public order and safety and the police officers have dually defined positions. The police force is instrumental to the jobs of the prosecution service and the mayor, in addition to which it is also responsible for arms persmissions. The fact that Tristan van der V. was permitted to possess a number of firearms had attracted the attention of the press in the wake of the shooting, particularly in combination with what was revealed on the shooter's psychiatric antecedents.

At the press conference today the issue was brought up whether the psychiatric history of Trisitan van der V. would have prevented him from obtaining permits to possess the weapons that turned out to be so lethal on that April day. As a reply to that, so much was admitted that the information on psychiatric antecedents had actually not been taken into account at the time of the decision on the application for permits. It would have prevented a permit being granted, had they been considered properly. To the question whether someone could be blamed for this omission in a legal sense the chief prosecutor gave no clear indication, only fuelling this to become a key issue in the media. For how long the authorities will be able to bypass this issue remains unclear. That could be a matter of hours or days, depending on the backbone strength of the relevant officials, as well as on the peculiar dynamics of a usually uncontrollable public debate.

So far, the authorities have shown little inclination to resist a blaming process. Quite the contrary, another issue was brought up by the authorities themselves. They disclosed to have started an investigation against a person who is suspected of having had prior knowledge of the plans of Tristan van der V. and not notiftying the police in advance. Whatever crime that might consitute I have not been able to determine so far, since there is no general obligation to report any imminent offences to the authorities, unles you are a civil servant. Moreover, the implied statement that this person might share responsibility for six deaths is hard to sustain. To say the least, releasing this information will work as a second device that will promote the blaming and shaming process.

The debate started this morning and will dominate the media at least until the late night shows and news fora. A legally sound perspective on the question of blame requires a high quality fact finding process to start with. For that the media neither have the time nor the patience. Hopefully the responsible public officers will persevere in a careful approach, but I do not share high hopes, looking at previous occasions and the tactics in this particular case. The shooting event was horrifying indeed, but a blaming process only serves any respectable interest when it comes to sustainable results. For these it is yet too soon.

by Evert Stamhuis, Dean and full professor criminal law and procedure OU Netherlands