Youth supervisor files report against Rotterdam cops: 'They just beat me up'

Youth supervisor files report against Rotterdam cops: 'They just beat me up'

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A 34-year-old residential group supervisor from Amsterdam is going to report assault by the Rotterdam police. The man was in the vicinity of a shooting, identified himself but then was still beaten. He is bewildered. "I am a care worker, nota bene."

The incident happened in Rotterdam-Charlois. There Found a shooting between youths place in which an innocent woman was hit. This happened in front of a center where young people live in assisted living and where the supervisor works and was thus present, without having anything to do with the shooting. But officers also stormed into the living area. The supervisor cooperated, identified himself but did not want his picture taken. And that cost him dearly. A short video shows him receiving blows from officers, even when he is already kneeling on the ground with hands in the air.

The 34-year-old victim wishes to remain anonymous, but wants to tell his story. He is still bewildered. ,,I am a social worker, so indirectly a colleague of the police. But they just beat me up! I'm speechless.''

The Amsterdammer has been working for a few months in the building in question in Rotterdam-Charlois, where derailed youths live under supervision. Friday afternoon, April 7, there was the shooting in front of the door.

One of the youths on the street fled into the residential complex. The police quickly attended with many men and after three quarters of an hour also wanted to enter the residential complex. "I addressed the officers from the window. I asked if they needed help. The police wanted to come in with a battering ram; I said this was not necessary. I neatly opened the door.''

Everyone in the house had to identify themselves and was searched. ''That was fine with me, I cooperated with that. I then indicated that I work here as an escort, to help these guys.''

But it didn't stop there. The police wanted to take pictures of everyone present. And the living group supervisor did not want to cooperate. ,,I have no desire to get my picture in the police file of those boys, the perpetrators of the shooting. I'm just a social worker, I don't want to jeopardize my job because of a photo. I have already identified myself. So why do I have to be photographed?''

This response was not appreciated by a few officers, he says. The supervisor was told that there would be no discussion about this. ''I was first pulled by my arm and then officers just slapped my face. Really unbelievable...''

'They apparently wanted to show who the male was'

He swears he was not behaving aggressively. ''Absolutely not. I even held my hands in the air. I was just pointing out my rights to the police, as a group. Apparently a few officers wanted to show who was the male here.'' One officer tried to work the escort to the ground with a handhold. Half successful, the escort landed on his knees, put his arms in the air but received more blows. Only to be carried off handcuffed.

Days after the incident, the bruises on his face were plain to see. ''I still have a thick eye and suffer from an ear noise,'' he said.

The case was immediately dismissed. But I won't leave it at thatThe residential group supervisor

According to a police report, four people had been arrested after the shooting incident: two Rotterdammers aged 16 and 18, a 21-year-old Spijkenisser and a 34-year-old man from Amsterdam because "he did not comply with the demands of the police officers. The 34-year-old was the escort in question. ,,I had to go to the police station and the case was immediately dismissed. But I won't leave it at that. I'm a counselor, not a drug dealer.''

His lawyer Jordi L'homme let it be known that the living group supervisor and he are going to file a report of abuse. ,,What hurts extra is that he is a social worker himself. You can clearly see on the video that he puts his hands up and even then he is beaten. He shouldn't be in the picture at all either."

'Police violence always looks like'

A spokesman for Rotterdam police let it be known that the incident is known and "that the violence used is being investigated. "It's a bit of a cliché, but police violence always looks like it." She points out that - as is often the case with videos showing police violence - it is not possible to see what precedes the incident. "We will have to wait for the internal investigation."

The supervisor's employer did not want to be named or comment. According to attorney L'homme, they do stand by their employee.

The Rotterdam police have been under a magnifying glass for some time. At the end of last year, there was much ado about agents who had lied in their police report to cover up the violence used against a garage owner. Cameras later showed that the garage owner was in the right.