Dutch police suspended 236, fired 85 last year; Racism a big problem, minister says
Police officers in the Netherlands faced disciplinary action 236 times last year, and 85 people were fired, said Justice Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz on Tuesday evening. She was speaking during the debate in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, about discrimination and racism within police ranks. The minister also agreed that racism is indeed an issue that needs to be studied within the organization to determine how best to tackle the problem.
The disciplinary measures were not only related to racism or discrimination, the minister said. Yeşilgöz did not elaborate on all of the reasons that police officers were sanctioned over the course of the year.
Those who were faced various penalties, including a reduction in annual leave, a partial reduction of salary for up to two years, loss of seniority benefits with regard to pay raises for up to four years, docking someone’s pay down a scale, suspension, or dismissal. Police trainees can also be expelled from their program
“If a disciplinary investigation produces irrefutable evidence of discrimination and racism, my opinion is that you do not belong with the police. That would be my opinion,” she said. However, the ultimate decision rests with the employer.
The Justice Minister and BIJ1 parliamentarian Sylvana Simons clashed in November after anti-blackface protesters were violently prevented from reaching their approved demonstration at a Sinterklaas party in Staphorst. Before commenting on the matter, Yesilgoz said she wanted to first find out what exactly happened and how the police responded. Simons could not believe the Minsiter’s attitude after a decade of these protesters facing similar violent incidents. She called the Minister “hard of learning” and demanded an investigation into the police.
The minister’s debate with Simons this time was more amenable than their heated debates in the past. The Bij1 MP quoted police leadership telling there were 30 allegations of racism or discrimination in the police over the last six months, a level of transparency Simons said she appreciated. At the same time, Simons said much more work needed to be done to protect the rights of police officers who want to file complaints, including those who speak anonymously.
“Discrimination and racism have no place in our society and certainly not in an organization to which we have outsourced the monopoly of violence and where people are walking around who are supposed to keep us safe,” Yesilgöz said in her response. “Ultimately, the organization must change from within, because that is necessary.”
Earlier, the minister also noted that one of the problems is not that racism, discrimination, and other unprofessional behavior is ignored, but rather gets normalized. More training is being offered to managers, and the professional code of consuct is being updated.
Additionally, the minister said that she does not oppose a further investigation into right-wing extremism and racism pervading the police as an organization. She will discuss the prospects of folding a study about the issue into research being carried out both at Erasmus University and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism. Following that, she intends to give an update some time next month.
