Police decreased undercover operations by half after critical reports

Over the past two years, the Dutch police carried out less than half as many undercover operations as usual. The police leadership decided to decrease undercover deployment after an officer took his own life and the critical reports that followed. The police are now reforming their undercover department, De Telegraaf reports.

The undercover officer took his own life in 2021. Investigations into his situation concluded that there had been an accumulation of serious errors in the run-up to his suicide. Undercover cops were too often left to get by on their own.

“We decided that we have to start over in order to be able to properly implement all recommendations,” Rob van Bree, head of the National Investigation and Intervention Unit, told the Telegraaf.

The police temporarily reduced the unit by half and took safety measures for all employees. Several operations continued, but the total number of undercover deployments dropped by half, Van Bree said. He called it painful, but necessary for the safety of undercover police officers.

The new undercover team will start on January 1 under the name Under Cover Team (UCT), though it is unclear when the team will be able to operate at full strength again. The new team will focus more on cops’ wellbeing, Van Bree said. The police also tightened up undercover training at the Police Academy, set extra requirements for new undercover cops, and limited how long cops can work undercover to eight years.

Crime has also changed in the past decades and the new crime world requires different operations with undercover cops who have specific knowledge, which is also why the training has been updated. Van Bree said. “It is no longer just drug cases, but also terrorism, money laundering, crypto cases, cyber cases, and we are also increasingly focusing on facilitators of underworld bosses; the people around them,” Van Bree said. “That requires undercover cops with very specific knowledge.”