Bullying, sexism, discrimination common at Rotterdam police

The police in the Rotterdam city center have a “socially unsafe working environment” due to “poor mutual interaction” and “failing leadership,” according to an independent investigation following many complaints from officers about discrimination, bullying, sexism, and excessive violence by police officers. Sander van de Koot, a member of the police unit’s management, said he was “shocked” by the findings, but several police officers are not surprised, NRC reports.

This concerns the Basic Team Center - a team of around 230 cops working in the heart of Rotterdam. Officers from the team have been complaining for some time about racism, discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying, and excessive violence. At the insistance of the police union NPB, the police top asked a research agency from Amsterdam to map out the extent of the problem. It came to the above conclusions.

NRC spoke to six police officers in the unit. They all asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. According to them, there is much dissatisfaction in the team about the unit management’s “very lenient” approach to the identified problems. No disciplinary measures have been taken against officers who were in the wrong. “The bullies are getting away with it, and the victims are sick at home,” one cop said.

They referred to a colleague of Surinamese descent who has been on sick leave since the end of last year due to persistent racist treatment from other officers. According to the cops NRC spoke to, colleagues would say things like: “You must have eaten all the bananas again” when the fruit bowl was empty. Or: “It’s getting really dark now” when he entered the room.

Officers also complain about sexism. Older male officers sometimes explicitly judge young female colleagues on their appearance and sexual possibilities. There are also complaints about excessive alcohol consumption, especially on the annual “bonding day” typically held in a catering establishment. Some colleagues bring their own hard liquor along, the officers said.

And they have concerns about the violence used by some colleagues on the nightlife crowd. Some officers call the work area a “war zone.” And the team regularly receives reports from citizens against officers who hit them with batons on their thighs, often hard enough to smash the citizens’ phones in their pockets.

Several officers told NRC that they think the police leadership wants to “cover-up” the complaints. “It is unacceptable that the two team leaders who are responsible for the problems and who mainly looked the other way when difficulties arose are now being tasked with the ‘change process,’” an experienced officer said.

In recent years, the Rotterdam police have regularly faced criticism due to discrimination and sexism by cops. Several WhatsApp groups were discovered in which cops made such statements.

Early this year, six Rotterdam cops were punished for “misogynistic and discriminatory” statements in such a WhatsApp group. One officer was fired.

In 2020, the police investigated racist statements by nine Rotterdam cops in a WhatsApp group of the Marconiplein police station. They called ethnically diverse citizens “cancer people” who they would like to “shoot,” among other things. Rotterdam police chief Fred Westerbeke gave several of these cops the lightest possible disciplinary sanction - a written reprimand. According to the police chief, research had shown that these were “good officers” who “sincerely regret” their racism.

Westerbeke told NRC that he personally did not want to answer questions about the situation at the Basic Team Center.

A police spokesperson told the newspaper that the police leadership aims to make the basic team “a pleasant place to work” again by “strengthening and supporting” the team management. “A long-term plan of action is being prepared to achieve a sustainable, safe, and social working environment.”