Relatives of people who died in police custody want insight into investigation

The surviving relatives of people who died during or after a police action should be given access to the file of the investigation into their loved ones’ deaths. Without it, it is challenging to file a well-motivated objection if the Public Prosecution Service (OM) decides not to prosecute the officers involved, Controle Alt Delete, an organization fighting against police brutality and ethnic profiling, told the Volkskrant.

Controle Alt Delete will hold a commemoration in The Hague on Tuesday for all people who died during and after police intervention. The organization also launched a petition, asking the government to give surviving relatives the right to receive the complete anonymized file once the criminal investigation into the incident has been concluded.

Between 2015 and 2024, 105 people died after police action. Approximately 70 percent of them had mental health problems. According to research by Controle Alt Delete, the OM decided not to prosecute the involved cops in 94 percent of cases.

After each incident, the Rijksrecherche, the department that handles internal investigations at government services, investigates what happened and compiles a file with information like interrogations, radio traffic, and video images.

Surviving relatives currently have no right to view the investigation file. That makes it almost impossible for them to force prosecution through the court of appeal, Jair Schalkwijk of Controle Alt Delete said to the Volkskrant. “It is important for surviving relatives to understand what happened. To get closure. But also to be able to check for themselves whether something went wrong,” he said.

Relatives can request access to the files through a lawyer. “But hiring a lawyer can quickly run into thousands of euros,” Schalkwijk said. Moreover, the OM only allows the lawyer to come in and view the file. “Making it available to the client in its entirety is still not allowed.”

Victim lawyer Richard Korver, who supports the Controle Alt Delete initiative, has handled several such requests. He’s heard various reasons from the OM why he is not allowed to share the investigation file with his client. “One person uses the Judicial and Criminal Records Act,” he said to the newspaper. The Act states that the government is not obliged to provide criminal records. “The other says: There is no victim because there is no crime. And so you will not receive it.”

Victim Support Netherlands and Ypsilon, an organization that supports relatives and loved ones of people with psychosis sensitivity, also supports Controle Alt Delete’s initiative.

The OM told the Volkskrant in a written statement that “it must be prevented that investigations are initiated by parties other than the police and the OM that could incriminate or harm individuals.” The OM will grant a lawyer access because they have a duty of confidentiality not to “use the documents for a purpose other than that for which the documents are provided.” According to the OM, anonymization is not always sufficient to prevent the traceability of personal data.