Understanding and Preventing Discriminatory Ethnic Profiling: A Guide
What do EU-MIDIS results tell us about minorities’ and the majority populations’ experiences of police stops? Looking at the survey results for those 10 Member States where a control group of majority population respondents was surveyed who were living in the same neighbourhoods as minority respondents, a number of differences can be identified between the extent, frequency and the nature of stops experienced; for example: •
The number of people being stopped – see Figure 1: – In general, more people from minority backgrounds have been stopped by the police in comparison with the majority population. – On average 28% of minorities in the 10 Member States were stopped by the police in the last 12 months in comparison with 20% of the majority population. – In seven of the 10 Member States, minorities were stopped more than the majority population.
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Frequency of stops – see Figure 2: – In general, members of minority groups who are stopped by the police experience more stops over a 12-month period than the majority population. – Taking those groups who indicated they were stopped three or more times by the police in the last 12 months, only minority groups are represented in this category.
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Circumstances and nature of stops (35): – Between 70% and 98% of majority respondents interviewed were in a private vehicle when stopped. In comparison, the likelihood of being stopped in a private vehicle fluctuates significantly between the different minorities surveyed, with more minority respondents than majority respondents likely to be stopped on public transport or on the street; which, in itself, denotes a situation where profiling is more likely to occur as people are easier to see when not in a car. – Overall, respondents from the majority population tended to think that the police were respectful towards them during a stop, whereas more minority respondents indicated that the police were disrespectful towards them.
(35) See FRA (2010) ‘Police Stops and Minorities’, Data in Focus Report 4, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
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