Rotterdam police chief apologizes for racist incident for second time

The chief of the Rotterdam-Rijnmond police unit apologized for racist comments made by an officer during an arrest. It is the second apology Police Chief Fred Westerbeke has had to give for a racist occurrence in the unit, according to EenVandaag.

Officers used a racial slur against a person involved in a 2020 arrest, which was partially caught on camera. During the incident, the police clashed with a family in Dordrecht in their home when the family got involved in the arrest of an intoxicated acquaintance.

"This case is painful for all involved in various areas," Westerbeke said, according to EenVandaag. "When we became aware of the use of the swear word on Dec. 30, 2020, we immediately distanced ourselves from this statement. I apologize to the person who received the unacceptable swear word and to anyone who was hurt by it myself and on behalf of my unit."

After the violent arrest, the family said police did not tell the whole story about what happened. They also reported aggravated assault, insults and discrimination, according to the NOS. In the police report following the arrest of several family members, the Rotterdam police did not mention the violence and racist language that occurred.

A court in The Hague ruled that the officer who created the report be prosecuted for the omissions in the write-up. "It is that the police did not know that everything was being filmed, otherwise we would never have been able to demonstrate what actually happened," the mother of the family told the NOS.

Westerbeke alluded to the "several lawsuits pending" in his apology, according to EenVandaag. "Internally, the matter has been intensively discussed and experienced, both with direct colleagues and in a broader context. We cannot undo it, but we can learn from what happened. We can also gain in terms of cultural and historical awareness."

Last week, the police sent a plan for how to deal with exclusion, racism and discrimination to the Tweede Kamer, according to EenVandaag. "We have a very good police force in the Netherlands and I am proud of the employees, but too much goes wrong with us in this area," said police officer Johan van Renswoude, who wrote the plan.