Dutch fashion police: Rotterdam is going to have a new fashion police

The Dutch fashion police are real?!

So it looks as if the Dutch fashion police are coming to the city of Rotterdam, in a controversial (and pretty dumb) move to combat crime.

Rotterdam police are collaborating with the public prosecution department and are soon beginning a pilot program, which involves being able to confiscate designer clothing from young men if they believe that they look too poor to afford them. A literal Dutch fashion police. Yeah you heard that right. I’m just as baffled as you are.

So, how on earth is this going to work? What if you bought your Gucci sweater 2 years ago, realistically how are you going to prove it right there on the street? Also, how are they going to confiscate them right away? The chief of Rotterdam police, Frank Paauw, said ”We’re going to undress them on the street.”

If you can’t show valid proof that it belongs to you legally, then you’re in trouble.

It sure looks like we’re going to be seeing young men everywhere in the nude in Rotterdam.

So what is this all in aid of?

It is believed that implementing these kind of procedures may reduce crime in the city. Although the exact crime that they are targeting has not been explicitly disclosed, it is believed that it may be something to do with the issue of drug trafficking amongst youths.

This move has been heavily criticized as it could lead to racial profiling. This is mainly due to the likelihood of white men almost never being stopped, so it’s clear who they are really targeting. Is the Netherlands going to become a racist society?

dutch fashion police
Rotterdam police are here to steal your clothes

By targeting youths in nice clothes, they say that they will be able to crack down on illegal earnings. The chief of Rotterdam police believes that these suspects walk around flashing their expensive clothes and acting untouchable. For some bizarre reason, he thinks stripping young men on the street is going to stop dodgy dealings.

We’ll see how this one pans out.

* Alert for people from Essex, people with swag, Italians and the genuinely rich people, who are going to get targeted for no reason whatsoever, leave your nice stuff at home if you’re heading to Rotterdam.

Emma Brown
Emma Brown
A familiar face at DutchRevew. Emma arrived in Holland in 2016 for a few weeks, fell in love with the place and never left. Here she rekindled her love of writing and travelling. Now you'll find her eating stroopwafels in the DutchReview office since 2017.

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