Possible community service for police officer who searched for unauthorized information

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended 60 hours of community service against Bilal A. on Tuesday for computer hacking. The police officer from The Hague allegedly requested unauthorized information from police systems on 30 occasions.

He looked for license plates, telephone numbers, and citizen service numbers (BSN), sometimes from outside the region he worked in. Most of the inquiries were in the family sphere, for example, license plates on the street where his in-laws live.

"The police system is not Google and cannot be used like that," said the prosecutor. He wants to send a "clear signal" with the recommendation. "Citizens' privacy is damaged by searching in the system, and it makes the police vulnerable to corruption."

A. emphasized on Tuesday in the court in The Hague that he never requested unauthorized information from police systems, including when he was off duty. "I am an officer for 24 hours a day; I am very clear on that."

The alleged offenses occurred between March 2019 and May 2020. "I have done 14 years of service. I've done hundreds, thousands, maybe a million requests for information. I cannot remember them all, especially not when it happened years ago."

A., who is 36-years-old appeared in the documentary De Blauwe Familie in 2022. The documentary consisted of six officers with a migration background explaining how they had been discriminated against, shut out, and bullied by their police officer colleagues.

Another officer from the documentary was sentenced to 40 hours of community service, which was conditionally suspended. He searched police systems for information on 281 people for private purposes.

The prosecutor mentioned that two attempts had been made to settle the case outside of court with a penalty notice, but A. did not agree to that. "That is why we are now here before the judge."

The court will announce its verdict on October 14.