Police need to tackle ‘structural problem’ of racism and discrimination

Police need to tackle ‘structural problem’ of racism and discrimination

May 23, 2022

The police chief in charge of improving diversity in the force has acknowledged that it has a ‘structural problem’ with racism and discrimination, in response to a documentary focusing on officers with minority ethnic backgrounds.

Six police personnel spoke of their experiences of being ignored, bullied or even dismissed after they complained about workplace discrimination. The documentary, De Blauwe Familie, is being broadcast on Monday evening on the NPO2 channel.

Martin Sitalsing, head of the Midden-Nederland police division, called the documentary a ‘painful’ exposé and said: ‘We have a great deal of work to do in this area.’

Sitalsing and Noord-Nederland police chief Gery Veldhuis were given the task last year of making the Dutch police force more diverse and inclusive, with a target of raising the proportion of officers with a non-western origin to 35% in five years.

Sitalsing has said that efforts to recruit more minority officers will only succeed if the police can offer them a safe working environment.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/0...iscrimination/