Police union ACP has rightly dismissed chairman and figurehead Gerrit van de Kamp for sexually transgressive behavior, the subdistrict court ruled. He is not entitled to severance pay. Van de Kamp is appealing against the ruling.
Three anonymous complaints had been received against the long-time figurehead of the union about transgressive behaviour, both sexually and in the field of leadership. Van de Kamp himself stated in an interview with this site that he was ‘thrown in front of the train’, but the subdistrict court in Amersfoort sees it very differently.
The judgment quotes from WhatsApp messages that the chairman sent to a female colleague, between May 2017 and the end of 2021. Van de Kamp asks ‘several times for hugs’, ‘asks why he is not allowed on holiday’ and ‘starts about world kiss day’. He also asks her to wear a certain ‘red dress with pumps’, writes that he ‘knows her size’, that ‘her hair is so nice and long’, that he ‘misses her’, calls her ‘bitch’ and ‘cute and that she is “only allowed to go to the hairdresser with his permission.” In addition, Van de Kamp sends her emoticons of kisses, hearts and roses.
Van de Kamp sent a colleague messages in which he ‘starts about world kiss day’ and calls her ‘bitch’ and ‘darling’
According to Van de Kamp, the colleague in question also showed flirtatious behavior towards him, but the subdistrict court judge sees insufficient substantiation for this claim. Van de Kamp says she has not saved any WhatsApp messages from her and the messages that are in the file do not show that she sent him messages with the same tone and purport. Nor that she appreciated these apps. During the interview with this site, Van de Kamp refused to provide access to app traffic.
Home visit
It didn’t stop with digital contact. He showed up unannounced at this woman’s door for a home visit. According to Van de Kamp, he did so because his colleague was in ‘a difficult situation due to the death of a loved one and a broken relationship’. The subdistrict court ruled that precisely because of those circumstances and his past, Van de Kamp should have acted with extra caution.
During the handling of the case, Van de Kamp acknowledged that in 2006 he had already had sex with a sick colleague, whom he visited unannounced. At that time it was already highly questionable whether he could stay on as chairman. Van de Kamp thinks this is something from a long time ago that can no longer be attributed to him, the judge recognizes that, as a person forewarned, he should have known what dangers ‘at least for him’ lurk in an unexpected home visit.
Van de Kamp admits that in 2006 he had sex with a sick colleague, whom he visited unannounced
In his defence, Van de Kamp refers to the ‘prevailing loose culture’ within the top of the union, which has just under 25,000 members. The judge is also very critical of this: ‘For him as chairman this does not constitute any justification’. From the verdict: ,,As chairman – for nearly twenty years, of all things – he is, after all, the primary bearer of culture and his behavior sets the tone. Insofar as he believes his behavior was “normal” before “Metoo” and the Voice scandal came to light, this assumption is wrong; behavior as described above was also long before (if not always) unacceptable.”
Van de Kamp’s lawyer speaks of an ‘incomprehensible statement after all the carelessness on the part of the ACP’, and appeals. When asked, a spokesman for the ACP stated that he “does not want to comment on the matter now.”
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