Racist behaviour common among police: Yle

Although racist behaviour among the police personnel is very common, it seldom comes to light, said an investigative report published by the national broadcaster Yle on Saturday.

A number of officers interviewed by the Yle admitted about olice personnel making racist comments. But he mentioned examples of such inappropriate behaviour by their collogues towards the minorities, said the report.

They said acist comments are rarely challenged, prompting this atmosphere in the police. Although very few police officers were involved in making racist comments.

"The threat from the far right is real and its tentacles reach as far as the police," said the Yle report, quoting a serving police officer as saying.

The Yle investigation found that only four cases of suspected racism were investigated as part of the internal disciplinary proceedings from 2018 to 2020.

Two of the suspects were sacked while the other two were given written warnings.

On an average, about a thousand of complaints are lodged against police personnel but from 2018 to 2020 just 30 cases were considered to be vlinked to racism.

None of the racism allegations proceeded to a preliminary investigation, due to lack of proper evidence.

National Police Board Member MikkoEränen told the Yle that they would do their best to ensure high trust among the minorities.

"That can be hard, but it cannot affect our actions," Eränen told the Yle, quipping, "Police officers have to treat all customers equally."