Eleven police officers who exchanged “unacceptable” social media messages have been suspended as part of an ongoing disciplinary investigation into racist police WhatsApp groups.

Nine of the group are police officers working in Amsterdam, and another two work at the Rotterdam police service centre, which is in charge of the police computer system and finances.

Police have not given any details about the kind of messages that were found but according to Amsterdam police chief Frank Paauw “insults, bullying and discrimination have no place in our organisation and are against everything the police stand for.”

He said he could not be more precise because the investigation is ongoing. “But what I have seen I’m taking very seriously. We will do everything to get to the bottom of this,” he said.

It is not the first time police officers have been found exchanging racist messages in WhatsApp groups.

In 2021 five Rotterdam police officers were given a formal warning for racist comments on Whatsapp. The men were commenting on a video that showed a white teenager being beaten up by a number of black teens in the Rotterdam district of Spijkenisse.

In 2022, members of the Schiphol border police were disciplined for sending discriminatory stickers via WhatsApp.