Serving police officers have made 30 formal reports about racist or discriminatory comments by their colleagues over the past six months, the NRC reported on Wednesday.

It is the first time the police have given an overview of complaints within the force, many of which were made by senior officers.

Acting national police chief Liesbeth Huyzer told the paper that the number registered to date is irrelevant. ‘What matters is that colleagues make reports, that we look into them, and that we react to them properly,’ she said. ‘Those who cross the line will always, always feel it.’

The most recent report involves an officer in The Hague who was sent home last week after making ‘extremely inappropriate comments’ on social media. The officer is an active member of the far-right PVV party and was a candidate in the local elections last year.

Huyzer said  banning police officers from joining democratically elected political parties was neither possible nor desirable, but more should be done to ensure they carry out their duties in a neutral way and respect the constitution.

No one knows how many police officers are members of the PVV, but ‘research suggests police officers lean more to the right,’ she told the paper. Several stood as candidates for the party in the 2022 local elections.

Huyzer said last year that police officers caught making racist remarks will no longer get away with a ‘good chat’. ‘The most important message is there will always be some form of sanction, and if necessary, redundancy,’ Huyzer said at the time.

Earlier this year, six officers from Oost-Nederland were suspended after footage emerged of them involved in racist chanting in Paris.