Another cop caught leaking information; Police: accusation "premature"

Another police officer is under investigation on the suspicion of leaking confidential information "on a large scale", the Telegraaf reported on Tuesday. The Oost-Nederland responded to the Telegraaf's article in a statement by calling it "premature". The officer in question, 52 year old Ton D. from the Oost-Nederland unit, has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the newspaper. "So far it seems that there have only been leaks into the private sphere, but the investigation is ongoing", Oost-Nederland police spokesperson Ronald van der Leeden said to the Telegraaf. "The investigation must show what exactly happened and what consequences it may entail. As long as it is ongoing, we can not make any substantive statements on the matter." In response the police state that, as for everyone else, police officers are also considered innocent until proven guilty, and in this case it is still being examined whether a criminal act took place. The police confirm that an officer was suspended on August 18th on suspicion of violation of professional secrecy. "The investigation currently underway should reveal to whom information was leaked and on what scale", according to the statement. "In this case we have a stand-alone case in which the police officer would have leaked in the private sphere and not to criminals." The officer has been denied access to the police station and systems while the investigations - both an internal investigation and a criminal investigation - is ongoing. Over the past few months, three other police officers have been arrested for leaking information - an officer working at the country's national investigatory team, a police officer in Eindhoven and an officer working for the Koninklijke Marechaussee.