The police was in 1995 one of the parties that started the BOB, never drink and drive, campaign. She called for showing restraint. The campagne is still going strong. But restraint is exactly what the police herself struggles to show. Evelyn wrote the following blog about this, that was the introduction to our monthly newsletter.

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De politie has to show restraint, but seems to be unable

In the Netherlands, everyone knows about BOB. "BOB" refers to the person who agrees to stay alcohol-free to drive friends or family home safely. It's the most successful government campaign ever, partly started by the police. For more than three decades, she has reminded us to show restraint.

But restraint is exactly what the police struggles to show. With the Crime Anticipating System, CAS, she turns innocent civilians into suspects.
Her databases are filled with faces that don't belong there. She deploys facial recognition technology when she shouldn't. And while collecting all this data, none of her 36 most sensitive apps comply with Dutch privacy and information-security standards.

And that's not all. Under the guise of innovation, she knowingly pushes beyond the limits of the permissible. Under the guise of security, she deliberately ignores data-retention limits and stores data indefinitely. And in the name of public order, she pays intimidating house visits to innocent citizens who are interested in attending a protest. On the 20th of februari 2026, we awarded the police the Big Brother Awards 2025 public Award for exactly this behaviour.

Which brings us to the following news on the 3th of march 2026: an investigation found that approximately 1,700 police officers accessed police databases to look up information about the violent death of Lisa from Abcoude - even though in many cases there was no clear operational reason to do so. That’s how the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security begins her letter to Parliament, informing lawmakers of yet another large-scale privacy violation by the police.

In response, all 1,700 employees will be questioned. The police also says she is reviewing her information security and -management. Whether this is truly an information-security problem remains to be seen.

It makes sense that officers can access case files. But did all 1,700 of them need that access to this one?

While I’m curious to hear the answer, I’m also worried the question distracts from the real issue: the police consistently fails to show restraint. In her use of technology. In the collection of data. In storing it. And in accessing it.

New legislation is on the way that will allow the police to monitor more of our online life and deploy even more technology against us. That legislation should, of course, be as limited as possible. But that will only have effect if something changes in the day-to-day reality of police work. The police must cultivate a culture of limits.

A culture of restraint.

Maybe we can help them with that - with a campaign slogan.

Got inspiration? Share your slogan with us!