Police Chief Yvonne Hondema: “The officer responded to a report of unrest at Hoog Catharijne. On site, he saw two women treating another woman disrespectfully. He addressed them, was then insulted and verbally abused, and arrested one of the two women. This involved the use of force. This police officer must act; he cannot look away. That is what I ask of him. He may use force if necessary.
Police work is primarily PEOPLE work. From my professional police perspective, I see that much of the force used was proper police action within the guidelines, even if it may look severe. For some of the force applied, that is not the case, and we learn from that. At the same time, I know police work requires quick decisions in sometimes complicated and complex circumstances.”
Opinions about our actions sometimes sharply oppose each other. Threats directed at our involved colleague are completely unacceptable. The many discriminatory remarks we see online under the posted video are also unacceptable. Police Chief Yvonne Hondema: “I urge everyone to continue treating each other with respect, also online.”
People Work
Hondema: “We know trust is fragile. That is why we also use this moment to learn, to listen, and to keep the conversation going. We do this with colleagues and our allies. We always ask ourselves if we did the right thing and if we would do it again next time. Force was applied at multiple moments. Part of the force applied falls within our assessment framework, but part does not. We have all seen the stairs. After that, the situation escalates, and that is never the goal of police action. We must and want to learn from this.”
Report
Two parties have now filed reports of assault, attempted serious assault, and violation of the use-of-force instruction. The Public Prosecution Service is considering whether to initiate an investigation.
Yvonne Hondema: “The (online) threats directed at him have a great impact on him and his family. If people have concerns about police conduct or want to give us feedback, we welcome that and want to learn from it. We have various channels for this. Let us realize that police work requires quick decisions in sometimes complicated and complex circumstances. That is why the use of force is carefully reviewed afterwards.”
The monopoly on violence assigned to the police carries great responsibility to handle this with utmost care and transparency and to learn when things could or should have been done differently. Society expects that from us.”