Specialized detectives to investigate discrimination cases in new experiment

The police will experiment with using specialized detectives to investigate discrimination cases from next year, Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security said in a letter to parliament. He set 7 million euros aside for this experiment over the next five years.

The number of racist and Antisemitic incidents is on the rise. Last year the police registered 5,487 incidents of discrimination, 17 percent more than the year before.

The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, therefore asked for an experiment using special investigators for discrimination cases. Parliamentarians believe that specialized detectives could lower the threshold for victims to report discrimination.

According to Grapperhaus, this experiment should clarify "what added value specialization can have in improving the tackling of discrimination."