Risk indicators young recruits in drug crime

Municipality of Utrecht

Reducing the likelihood of Utrecht youths becoming involved in drug crime.

Last change on 12th of July 2024, at 9:46 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Impactful algorithms
• Impact assessment: Field not filled in.
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Public Order and Safety

Begin date

-

Contact information

[e-mail]

Link to publication website

zichtopondermijning.nl

Responsible use

Goal and impact

Young people can become involved in organised drug trafficking voluntarily or compulsorily. This can happen knowingly and unknowingly. For example, they are paid to deliver packages, assist in production (hemp cultivation) or are asked or forced to deal drugs. The dashboard displays results of analyses that provide insight into the background characteristics of young people suspected or at risk of being involved in drug crime. This is displayed down to the neighbourhood level. The insights can contribute to a preventive approach aimed at reducing young people involved in drug crime.

Considerations

Results Utrechts Uthic Assessment: with this Young Growth approach within the Zicht op Ondermijning (Insight into Undermining) trajectory, we reduce the likelihood of young people becoming involved in drug-related crime. This contributes to the Safety and Health values of Utrecht residents. If we apply this preventive approach successfully, we prevent the group of vulnerable Utrechters from growing. In doing so, we fulfil the value Justice. When applying the algorithm, there is no risk of privacy violation, because it does not work with personal data but with profiles of young people.

Human intervention

The algorithm (with a direct impact on Utrecht residents and their living environment) always serves only as a source of information for an employee, who takes the appropriate next step based on it and the context of the situation. This principle is included in our Utrecht framework Internal Guidelines for Algorithm Application.

Risk management

The Utrecht data scientists, Information and Process Advisors (IPA) and Decentralised Information Security Officers (DISO) within the Utrecht municipality have a controlling and monitoring role in the application of the algorithm, in addition to the employees directly involved. By doing so, we want to prevent the following risks from occurring:

- data leak by making personal data of Utrecht residents publicly available

- algorithm takes a decision completely independently, without the intervention of an employee and without interpreting the relevant context of the situation

- 'function creep' regarding data in the application of the algorithm, as a result of which the algorithm gives a distorted picture of what is going on. This can occur because the same type of data is used when applying the algorithm, and the algorithm uses that as confirmation of what comes out as information

Legal basis

Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) Act

Operations

Data

The datasets used in the application of the algorithm include:

- Basic Enforcement Facility (BVH) of the police;

- Basic Registration of Persons (BRP) of municipalities;

- Early school leavers (VSVTAB);

- Highest education in 2018 (HIGHOPLTAB);

- Halt youth aged 12 to 18 years (HALTTAB);

- Enrolment of pupils in special education (INSCHRWECTAB);

- Individuals and their legal parents (KINDOUDERTAB);

- Household characteristics (GBA HOUSEHOLDTAB);

- Health Insurance Act defaulters (WANBZVWTAB);

- Persons with debt restructuring through the Debt Rescheduling Act (WSNPTAB);

- Basic registration of addresses and buildings (BAG);

- Socio-economic category (SECMBUS); this file is compiled based on various source files on types of income such as income from work, benefits, pension, student finance;

- Victim support (SHNTAB));

- Partners living together (GBASAMENWONERSBUS);

- UWV redundancy applications (UWVONTAANVTAB);

- Neighbourhood characteristics from CBS statline.