Investigator’s bias called into question over undercover cop’s suicide

Concerns have been raised about the possible bias of the public prosecutor who led the investigation into the suicide of an undercover cop last year. The same public prosecutor worked on the criminal case where the man was deployed as a secret agent, De Telegraaf reported.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) Zeeland-West-Brabant confirmed to the Telegraaf that the same prosecutor worked on both investigators. According to a spokesperson, the prosecutor stopped working on the undercover operation in mid-December last year. The operation started in January 2020.

The OM decides how and when to deploy undercover agents and other infiltrators, so it plays an essential role in covert actions.

According to the Telegraaf, the undercover cop's relatives are unhappy with the situation, raising concerns about "the butcher who inspects his own meat." Dutch police union NPB questioned the independence of the investigation.

The undercover police officer in question took his own life in April last year. He had been working on the covert operation for around 15 months. According to newspaper AD, he repeatedly asked to be taken off the sting before his suicide. A committee that investigated his death blamed the cop's suicide on a lack of police professionalism, saying that there were sufficient signs that the man was in trouble.