New police app to help reduce racial profiling in random stops
The Dutch police is preparing to test an app that will show officers if a certain car was previously pulled over by another officer, and whether anything was found during that check. This is one of the measures the police want to implement to prevent ethnic profiling and people with an immigration background being pulled over more often, NOS reports.
"A police officer will soon be able to see on his phone how often a certain vehicle has been checked in recent months and what that yielded. That can be important information for the decision of whether or not to check this car", Peter Slot, in charge of the diversity portfolio at the police, said to NOS.
The experiment is set to start in February with police teams in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague, Apeldoorn, and the National Unit.
Ethnic profiling by the Dutch police received a lot of attention last year after rapper Typhoon and footballer Kenneth Vermeer were pulled over because of their skin color and the expensive cars they were driving. The police already expanded its general app with a reporting point for ethnic profiling.
On Monday night the police met with organization Control Alt Delete, which works towards preventing ethnic profiling, to discuss new guidelines for police officers when carrying out so-called proactive checks. These guidelines include that officers must not jump to conclusions, use neutral language, and must be aware of their own prejudices.
