He would rather watch TV series than guard 200,000 kilos of gold: 100 hours of community service for the “lazy sergeant” in the Netherlands | local

From 20 to 24 March this year, the Royal Military Police Guard was on duty (Military Police, ed.) On night shifts in Harlem in the former building of the Harlem Money Printing Company. The building temporarily serves as a storage facility for De Nederlandsche Bank’s (DNB) gold stock, as the bank’s building in Amsterdam is being renovated.

About 14,000 gold bars weighing 12.5 kilograms each and 1,000 boxes of gold coins were moved from the basement of DNB Bank to the building in Harlem three years ago. This concerns a total of 200 thousand kilos of gold with a value of more than 10 billion euros. Since this move, the Dutch military police have guarded the gold warehouse 24 hours a day. For example, the 25-year-old guard had to monitor the area around the building on March 20. As ‘Duty Watch Commander’ he had to manage the ‘Operational Service’.

But the military court had a completely different idea of ​​its commitment to “vigilance and safety.” The man removed his belt with a firearm and pepper spray, lay down in a “comfortable position” on the couch, put his Airpods in his ears and enjoyed the series on his iPad and mobile phone.

According to the court, his “performance was inadequate” during his night shifts Situational awareness“, in other words: he had little or no knowledge of what was happening in his environment. Because he had earphones on, he did not hear calls from the phone or walkie-talkie. According to the prosecution, the man was not always “ready and alert.” “He did not provide supervision (active) insufficient and insufficient guidance to his subordinates, as a result of which there was a danger to the operation and security of the object, the goods and the persons contained therein.”

Many colleagues confirmed that the guard watched a series on his phone for hours. As a result, he missed several calls on his walkie-talkie and the commander’s phone during night shifts. Colleagues heard these calls over their walkie-talkie. “When the witness confronted the suspect about this, the suspect indicated that his walkie-talkie was probably at a low volume,” the ruling said.

During other night shifts, the suspect also missed several phone and walkie-talkie calls, because he was lying on the couch the entire time with Airpods in his ears. One colleague stated that the guard “had an uninterested attitude and was constantly looking at his phone.” “Communication was barely possible,” a statement said. Colleagues complained to their manager about the guard’s laziness. The suspect stated in court that it was not smart for him to remove his fist, but he was already aware of some of the risks.

However, the court ruled that he “deliberately evaded a special obligation of vigilance and safety.” According to the Dutch Military Criminal Code, this is a crime. Justice demanded 100 hours of community service, half of which was conditional. The judge was a bit more stringent: The guard received 100 hours of unconditional community service. If he does not comply, he will face another 50 days of military detention, given his brief appearance before the judges.

“The suspect places all the blame outside himself and shows no evidence that he is responsible for what he is accused of doing. The Military Chamber takes the suspect seriously. “Furthermore, the Military Chamber considers this position of the suspect to be very worrying given the future leadership positions the suspect may hold.”

In May, De Nederlandsche Bank transferred more than 200 tons of gold bullion and gold coins worth a total of €10.4 billion from the DNB vault in Haarlem to its new “cash centre” in Zeist. A stockpile of banknotes worth more than €4.5 billion was also brought from Haarlem to the Camp New Amsterdam defense site in Zeist.