In the past six months, police officers have reported thirty reports of racist or discriminatory statements and behavior by colleagues.
It is the first time that the police have received such an overview of reports of racism and discrimination in their own circle. The reports were mostly made by senior officers to the national anti-racism coordinator appointed last year by the police.
Deputy Chief of the National Police Liesbeth Huyzer says “Strengthen policies to combat discrimination by the police.” She does not want to say whether thirty reports in six months is a lot or a few. “That question does not matter: there will be many more reports. What matters is that colleagues report it, that we investigate the reports and that we respond adequately and unequivocally. Anyone who crosses the border will always feel that, always.”
According to Huyzer, the reports colleagues make of discrimination are the fruits of the policy announced last year that racist behavior will not be tolerated within the police, and in extreme cases will lead to dismissal.
The most recent incident concerns a police officer in The Hague who was suspended from his job last week after a report from his superior. He has been active in Geert Wilders’ PVV for years; in 2022 he was on the list of candidates of this party for the city council of The Hague. He is being investigated for making “deeply inappropriate comments” on social media.
Huyzer says that discredited agents are being dismissed faster than before and an investigation is being launched. “Previously, there was often a shyness within the police to act in such cases. Then it was often said: he is about to retire or it was private. But now we no longer look away and we dare to continue.”
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500 euros fine
One of the reports received concerned an incident in Rotterdam. Last week, the police there announced that an officer who had been employed for 46 years and who worked as a confidant within the force will be fined 500 euros for discrimination. He had said to colleagues at the coffee machine at the police station: “The little niggers who stomp the beans have a break. That’s why it’s taking so long.”
Earlier it was in the news that
six police officers from the east of the Netherlands were suspended because they posted a video on social media of a trip to Paris in which they shouted ‘less, less, less’ to Moroccan passers-by. The now suspended agent from The Hague, active for the PVV, stood up for his colleagues the same day. He tweeted on his own account that he wanted “less, less, less gajes”.
Huyzer says he cannot and does not want to prohibit officers from being members of a democratically elected party, but from now on the police want to ensure more emphatically that police officers “are neutral in the exercise of their profession and respect Article 1 of the Constitution. So behavior and statements that are contrary to the principle of equality and the prohibition of discrimination will have consequences.”
It is not known how large the support of the PVV and related political parties is within the National Police. “As a police force, we are a reflection of society, but research shows that police officers in general are slightly more right-wing,” said Huyzer.
The now suspended agent from The Hague has been active on Twitter for years. On March 25, he tweeted about climate protesters: “They are criminals, we must lock them up”.
Courses for managers
The police say they are looking at how incidents of discrimination can be reported to the outside world in a more transparent way from now on. Now the police only announce that there is inappropriate or cross-border behavior without telling what happened. “In order to really be a learning organization, it is good if we can actually discuss wrong behavior,” says Huyzer.
In recent months, three groups of police executives have been trained by a company to “help them look for their inner racism,” said Huyzer. The two-day courses are being expanded.
The police want to make officers “more resilient”, she continues. “It must be made clear that what they see in a few square kilometers should not lead to stereotypes about an entire population group. Officers must see that certain problems arise from poverty and inequality of opportunity.”
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of April 12, 2023.