Police no longer use algorithm that predicts who will become violent

The police will no longer use an algorithm to predict possible future acts of violence. There were doubts about whether the so-called Risk Assessment Instrument Violence (RTI-G) was useful, and it was not clear whether officers were still using it at all, a police spokeswoman said, the investigative journalism platform Follow The Money reported.

The algorithm has been in use since 2014. It looked at a person's gender, age, and criminal record to assess who might become violent. People who emerged from it were classified as a "security risk person." They would be screened more frequently and required to cooperate. Follow The Money reported earlier this week that ethnic background also played a role. Especially people with Moroccan, Antillean, or Somali backgrounds were considered a higher risk than others.

The police say the algorithm was never used alone. "It was a support, in combination with other systems, to see if someone is likely to be violent. If so, we can use that for a personalized approach, for example, with mental health services and communities." However, it is not clear if the results of the algorithm are still stored in people's files and if they will be updated.

However, the police told Follow the Money that the "RTI-G has been removed from use with immediate effect. The police will conduct a quality review of all algorithms. The validity of RTI-G from 2014 was also to be re-evaluated. But due to doubts about the usefulness of this tool, we will not do that, and therefore the tool has been withdrawn from use”, the investigative journalism platform reported.

Previously, the government had to stop using an algorithm to detect welfare fraud. The court ruled in 2020 that this system risk indication (SyRI) violates European privacy rules.