Amsterdam police want to fire four employees after inappropriate behavior

NOS News•today, 08:57•Amended today, 10:23

The Amsterdam police want to fire four employees because they participated in WhatsApp groups in which cross-border and discriminatory messages were shared.

A total of eleven police officers from the unit participated in the groups. Four of them now face an unconditional punishment, six a conditional punishment and an eleventh employee will receive a reprimand.

Because the employees are given two weeks to respond to the proposed punishments, the punishments are not yet final. The penalties are based on the proportion and severity of the employees’ messages in the WhatsApp groups.

Chief of Police Frank Paauw states that insults, bullying and discrimination have no place within the police. “With their behavior, these employees have not only damaged confidence in the police, but also that of their own colleagues. That hurts and requires us to take responsibility as a unit.”

The employees were previously suspended because of the WhatsApp messages. At that time, Paauw did not want to go into details because of the investigation. He then said that he took what he had heard “very seriously” and was going to get to the bottom of it.

Last year, officers were fired because of racist messages in WhatsApp groups. Then it concerned officers from the Walcheren base team in Zeeland. These agents sent insulting texts about Moroccan Dutch people, among other things.

Discrimination and racism have been a structural problem within the police for years. This was shown in the documentary two years ago The blue family from KRO-NCRV. In it, police officers talked about their experience with racism and discrimination in the workplace. The employees said that when they raised the issues they were bullied or fired.

In response, police chief Martin Sitalsing said that the police have reached a phase where they can no longer “accept that people discriminate or exhibit racist behavior.” He stated that management must set a standard and act professionally. “That requires something from our leadership. As guardians of this standard, we really have something to do here,” Sitalsing said.