Amsterdam – The Amsterdam Police Unit has started disciplinary investigations into the existence of WhatsApp groups with cross-border messages in which several police officers participated. Nine employees of the Amsterdam unit have been suspended and a tenth employee has been suspended. One of the groups also involved an employee of the Police Services Center and an employee of the Rotterdam Police Unit. These units have also initiated disciplinary investigations and suspended the employees in question.
The investigations focus on individual WhatsApp groups in which seriously transgressive and discriminatory messages were shared, sometimes in varying composition. This concerns different groups with employees from the Amsterdam unit and one group with an employee from the Amsterdam unit, an employee from the Police Services Center and an employee from the Rotterdam unit. The existence of the WhatsApp groups emerged in two criminal investigations.
Transgressive behavior and discriminatory statements are not tolerated within the police, which is why the Safety Integrity and Complaints departments are thoroughly investigating this case. The purpose of the research is to clarify what everyone’s role and contribution has been in the WhatsApp groups. Police chief Frank Paauw of the Amsterdam unit: “Insult, bullying and discrimination have no place in our police organization and are at odds with the police that we want and must be: honest, reliable, courageous and connecting. The precise nature and extent of the statements are still being investigated further, and I cannot go into details because of the investigation, but I take what I have heard so far very seriously. That’s why we’re getting to the bottom of this.”
Information source: Politie.nl
