Police chiefs in the Oost-Nederland district have distanced themselves from the local Almelo force after officers placed a video on Facebook showing how they put a Polish repeat offender on a train with a one-way ticket to Germany.

‘Despite understanding for the problem, senior officers do not think this is the way to draw attention to it,’ a press statement from Oost-Nederland said.

The police officers who placed the video on Facebook also said they would be able to do more of this sort of work if they had sponsors.

Job

The 23-year-old man lost his job six months ago and has since been arrested 66 times, police said in the the video.

According to the Facebook page, the man wanted to go back to Poland but did not have enough money. Police bought a ticket to Berlin for him, which is as far as the budget would allow.

The national ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer said later on Monday he had serious doubts about the video and that it should not have been placed on Facebook.

‘I am concerned about the image people from other countries have in the Netherlands,’ he is quoted as saying.

Brenninkmeijer said he is also concerned about whether the man willingly took the train, which, he pointed out, is wrong if the man is from an EU country.