The Oebele Brouwer Committee, which investigated the suicide of officer M. of the National Unit (LE) in August 2021, seriously reproaches the top of the police. Brouwer calls it “indecent” that the sector head of this unit initially questioned the authenticity of the suicide note that M. left after his death.
“This has caused unnecessary suffering to the relatives,” Brouwer writes. This “state of affairs is not appropriate after the death of a deserving police officer who for many years performed highly confidential functions and who most likely contracted PTSD as a result of his work.”
At the same time, Brouwer writes that he “cannot make a substantiated statement about the correctness of the accusations” that agent M. made in his farewell letter about the “seriously diseased culture” in the leadership of the National Unit.
In his farewell message to sector head Marjolein Smit, 53-year-old M. complained about lack of attention from his boss. M. was account manager at the Deployment Coordination Office of the DSO, the department of the National Unit that deploys police infiltrators, among other things. He was the third agent of the unit to take his own life in a period of two years. All three suicides are considered work-related.
The investigation by Brouwer, mayor of the Frisian municipality of Achtkarspelen and former criminal prosecutor, was sent to the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Parliament will discuss problems at the National Unit on Wednesday. Brouwer previously also investigated the suicide of an undercover agent of the LE who took his own life in April last year.
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‘Negative impact’
Brouwer notes that M., who worked for the police for 30 years, ended up in 2019 “in a highly neglected organizational unit” where there was “negative interaction”. That was extra problematic for M. because he had been struggling with “mental problems” since 2018 as a result of the confrontation with mortal remains and very stressful situations. According to Brouwer, he “quickly felt unappreciated and taken seriously and had no connection with his direct colleagues”.
M. received a lot of “positive attention” from his team leader, but Brouwer criticizes the sector head who decided on a disciplinary investigation against M in August 2021. He had argued with his ex-partner in a way not specified in the report. A disciplinary investigation was not the right approach because it “would very likely have a negative impact on the fragile mental state” of M.
The researcher is also critical that M.’s parents were told that it was better to avoid contact with the press. The police wanted to avoid reputation damage. “Neither M. nor his relatives deserved such a police attitude.”
39 farewell letters
For the study, confidential interviews were held with sixteen people. The police e-mails and personnel file were also examined. M.’s service telephone had meanwhile been reset and empty. “The committee was surprised to learn of how a potentially important information carrier is handled in this context,” the report said. M. left 39 farewell letters.
He had suffered from mental problems since 2018. In March last year he broke off relations with his partner and in the summer he already started “purposefully preparing for his end of life.” The company doctor concluded in June 2021 that M. was incapacitated for work.
At the end of his report, Brouwer concludes that he is aware that ‘a number of involved senior officials within the National Unit had been under great pressure for a long time and probably therefore no longer acted to the best of their ability’.
Marjolein Smit, who is negotiating with the police force about a new position at the National Police, was not available for comment today.
Talking about suicide You can contact the national helpline 113 Suicide Prevention. Phone: 0800-0113 or www.113.nl