Police unpunished for Rotterdam Marathon protest

Protesting police officers did not do any damage by painting a protest text on the trail of the Rotterdam Marathon. The municipality will therefore not be pressing charges, De Telegraaf reports.

The meters long text stated "police deserve better #cao'15" and was written on the asphalt. It got a lot of screen time on television as the marathon runners were filmed. The officers cleaned the road again after the marathon.

The police leadership disapproves of this action. They ordered a forensic investigation to find out who painted the text. "We secured traces of the material with which the road was painted. We did so so that we would already it if a report is filed. But there was no damage, there are no charges and therefore no investigation." A spokesperson for the police told the newspaper.

The unions and police officers are furious about the investigation and police union ACP thinks that the statement that no further investigation will follow is not enough. "A response will come. Our members take this seriously and so do we. This is a big blow, people are outraged", union president Gerrit van de Kamp said. According to him, the union informed the leadership beforehand that such an action would occur and they made no objection.

The police have been performing actions for a better collective bargaining agreement for weeks. Actions included officers sounding their sirens, driving slowly on highways and only writing fines for major infringements. On Wednesday last week almost 2 thousand police officers participated in a protest march through The Hague.