The BRP contains, among other things, the name, address and citizen service number of all people living in the Netherlands. Government organizations can request this data if they need it.
When he gets the overview, Auke cannot believe his eyes. In ten years, the police requested his data 350 times. And not only from himself, but also from his family. Auke files a complaint with the police. He wants to know why she requested his data so often.
The police say that they will not process his complaint. According to the police, his complaint is not about a specific action by a police officer, but about an automatic process. And the police do not handle complaints about this.
Auke is not satisfied with this and contacts us. Colleague Sari* takes up his case and asks the police to handle his complaint. But even then the police refuse. That’s why Sari starts an investigation. When we investigate, the police are obliged by law to answer our questions.
Our investigation shows that the complaint does concern specific actions by police officers. Every time someone searches for a person in the police system, data is retrieved from the BRP. The reason the police previously gave for not handling the complaint is therefore incorrect. That’s why we ask the police to do this again. But once again the police refuse. This time she says that handling the complaint takes a lot of time. And that would ask too much of the organization. The police do not properly explain why this is the case.
I am very critical of the way the police behave. She seems to be more concerned with rejecting the complaint than helping Auke. He has now informed us that he no longer trusts the police at all and no longer wants anything to do with them. This shows what consequences the attitude of the police can have. People like Auke lose their confidence and drop out, even though they shouldn’t have. The police could also have looked for a solution and what was possible.
*Not real name
Is things also going wrong between you and the police? Or are you unable to reach an agreement with another government agency? Call or WhatsApp the National Ombudsman for free 0800 – 33 55 555.