Dutch investigation program again shows innocent person as suspect

Last week, the television program Opsporing Verzocht again showed footage of the wrong person as a suspect in a serious assault. The program’s producers and police have both apologized, saying they deeply regret the mistake.

The segment in question aired on Monday, April 6, and concerned an assault in a nightclub in Markelo, Overijssel. “During the editing, two different boys were mistaken for one person and broadcast as the suspect,” the police explained.

“The program is worked on with great precision every week, and we are fully aware of the impact such a mistake can have,” the police wrote.

The police said that they are in “good contact” with the boy involved. In consultation with them, the police decided to issue a correction, both on television and on the police website.

This is not the first time Opsporing Verzocht has blundered in this way. A similar error occurred in February, when a woman was wrongly identified as a suspect in a scam that defrauded an elderly woman.