Annual Report 2015 case and the deadlock between the centre and the Ministry of Security and Justice contributed to the decision resulting in the incident. The Inspectorate VenJ found that, in contrast to the leave incident investigated, no irregularities were observed with respect to the execution of other leave authorisations. The centre follows the proper procedures and exercises all due care in drawing up the leave applications. The execution of the leave authorisations, too, conforms to the preconditions and frameworks set for the authorisations granted to the centre, in contrast to what happened in the case under review. Monitoring police custody The government has a special responsibility towards persons deprived of their freedom. The National Police annually detains close to 240,000 arrested persons in police custody. The detainee population is highly diverse. Regular supervision by the Commissions of Oversight for Policy Custody The Commissions of Oversight for Police Custody supervise the way the police treats these persons. On 1 July 2015, new regulations25 on the monitoring of policy custody entered into force. The most important changes are: • Members are no longer appointed by the policecommissioner but by the Minister of Security and Justice, after being nominated by the mayor representing the region and the chief public prosecutor. • The Commissions now also supervise the transportation of persons arrested by the police. The ten Commissions of Oversight of Police Custody have monitored police custody in 2015 by performing well over 600 inspections at the approximately 400 locations the police uses for the detention of persons (holding rooms, cells, cell complexes, court buildings). Some 550 detained persons were interviewed during these inspections. In general, the police was found to treat the persons incarcerated under its responsibility properly and responsibly. Such also appears from the thematic study into the care for persons in policy custody in the Netherlands, detailed in the below. Both the members of the Commissions and the incarcerated persons are positive about the way they are treated by the custody officers. The accommodations in the main meet all requirements. Proper medical care is provided, though there are some concerns about the way medication is handled and stored. The Commissions provided attention to the way the transportation of incarcerated persons takes place for the first time in 2015. As monitoring of this aspect took place for a short time only, the topic will be further addressed in 2016. Unfortunately, the situation in the police stations' holding rooms still requires more attention. These rooms are meant for holding persons for no more than a couple of hours. The responsibility for the care of the persons detained in these rooms rests not with the policy custody officials and the Custody Affairs chiefs, but with the 25 The Police Organisation Decree and the Supervisory Regulation governing the Care of Arrestees in Police Custody. 15 Table of Cont