Police union ACP is ‘annoyed’ now that the Public Prosecution Service (OM) has decided to prosecute the agent, who blew a woman over with a water cannon during the curfew riots in Eindhoven early last year. According to chairman Wim Groeneweg, this reinforces the image that the police use violence for no reason. “No cop leaves home with the idea of hurting anyone.”
“It came like a bolt from the blue,” says Groeneweg about the news that came out on Monday. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the action of the agent on January 24, 2021 was disproportionate. The ACP chairman will not immediately deny that conclusion. “Where people work, mistakes are made,” admits the chairman. Still, he doesn’t think prosecution is the right solution. “This is a totally wrong signal.”
The decision would be disastrous for the image of the police, Groeneweg believes: “Agents are increasingly becoming the head of Jut for government policy anyway. Whether it concerns corona restrictions, such as the riots in Eindhoven last year, or recently with the nitrogen policy. Police officers really don’t leave home in the morning to injure anyone, unlike those people they have to act against, by the way.”
“This creates a lot of uncertainty among our colleagues.”
And perhaps even more worrisome: the prosecution of the officer could lead to dangerous situations in the future. “You can imagine that this decision causes a lot of uncertainty among our colleagues. For example, the next time they face hooligans, they will think twice before using violence. But because of that reluctance they can put themselves or colleagues in life-threatening situations .”
In short, the police union feels abandoned. “You can certainly say that. We stand for the rule of law and fortunately this is well arranged in the Netherlands. So if violence is not applied properly, then it must be discussed. But to immediately proceed to prosecution…” According to Groeneweg could have handled the event from the beginning of last year internally. “As happens with many organisations, we also evaluate what went well and what did not.”
“In the Netherlands it works that when we are prosecuted we immediately think that someone was wrong.”
The chairman also emphasizes that Monday’s news means nothing. “Unfortunately, in the Netherlands it works that when we are prosecuted we immediately think that someone was wrong. But the Public Prosecution Service has not even announced the indictment yet and then the judge has to look at it first. We will in any case go into the case with great interest. follow.”
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