Wednesday

31st May 2023

EU report sheds light on police profiling

  • Most people are stopped when driving - but most minorities are stopped while on foot, the report found (Photo: EPA-EFE/Robert Ghement)

On the first anniversary of the death of George Floyd, murdered by Minneapolis police in the US and sparking a global protest movement over racial discrimination and police brutality, the EU's Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) took a look at police stops and racial profiling across the EU bloc.

The police most often stop men, young people, ethnic minorities, Muslims, or people who do not identify as heterosexual, the FRA's report, published on Monday (25 May), found.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Police officers searched or asked 34 percent of ethnic minorities for their identity papers - compared to 14 percent of people generally in the EU.

In Austria, police officers stopped immigrants and descendants of immigrants from sub-Saharan African countries at the rate of 49 percent, meaning every second person. Among the general population, 25 percent were stopped by police.

In Greece and Croatia, 33 percent of Roma people had been stopped by officers, in Spain 32 percent (among the general population the rate was only four percent), and in the Netherlands 29 percent.

People belonging to an ethnic minority are more often searched by police.

Police officers performed a search on 34 percent of people with an ethnic minority or immigrant background who were stopped while moving on foot, compared with 14 percent of the general population without such a background, the report found.

On foot

The agency said that people's experiences with police also depend on the circumstance of how they were stopped.

Perceptions of profiling may be less common when people are stopped while driving, because this is more likely to involve random checks unrelated to the personal characteristics of the person being stopped, the report found.

Most people are stopped when driving - but most minorities are stopped while on foot.

For the general population in Greece and Austria, most police stops (94 percent and 87 percent respectively) happened when people were driving, or using a bike or motorbike, as opposed to police stopping them while on foot.

However, 78 percent of immigrants, and descendants of immigrants, from South Asia in Greece, and 72 percent of immigrants, and descendants of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa, in Austria, who were stopped by the police, were on foot.

Lacking respect

About 80 percent of the general population said police treated them respectfully during the stop.

However, only 46 percent of respondents among minority groups said they were respected when police stopped them.

In the Netherlands, only three percent of Roma said they were treated with respect, compared with 76 percent of the general population.

In Italy, 29 percent of descendants of immigrants or immigrants from North African countries said the police behaved respectfully, compared to 86 percent of the general population.

In Portugal, 10 percent of Roma perceived police to have behaved respectfully, compared to 92 percent of the general population.

Fair stops

The report highlighted that the police may legitimately stop people for a variety of reasons, but discriminatory profiling - when race or ethnicity is the police's sole basis for stopping someone - is unlawful.

The agency called on EU countries to fight discrimination.

"Everyone has a right to be treated equally, including by the police," FRA director Michael O'Flaherty said.

"One year ago, the Black Lives Matter protests underscored the need to tackle racism and discrimination that are still all too common in our societies. It is time to rebuild trust among all communities and ensure police stops are always fair, justified, and proportionate," he added.

The report draws on findings from several FRA surveys, and for the first time shows differences between the general population and ethnic minorities across member states.

Column

Muslims, Ramadan, and myths facing 'European civilisation'

Happy Ramadan? The UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief warned the Human Rights Council last month that institutional suspicion of Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim has escalated to "epidemic proportions" worldwide.

EU to have first-ever anti-racism coordinator

The European Commission is set to unveil an action plan to fight racism - which will address gaps in existing legislation and extend the list of EU crimes to all forms of hate crime and hate speech.

Opinion

After 50 years, where do Roma rights stand now?

Beatings, forced sterilisation, police violence and fire bombings by right-wing extremists against Romani communities are still a reality in Europe. The corona pandemic only worsened this situation.

Opinion

MEPs poised to vote blank cheque for Europol using AI tools

Fair Trials, EDRi and other civil society organisations are calling on MEPs to hold true to protect our fundamental rights. We urge MEPs to vote against the revision of Europol's mandate, which distinctly lacks meaningful accountability and safeguards.

Latest News

  1. Want to stop forced migration from West Africa? Start by banning bottom trawling
  2. Germany unsure if Orbán fit to be 'EU president'
  3. EU Parliament chief given report on MEP abuse 30 weeks before sanction
  4. EU clashes over protection of workers exposed to asbestos
  5. EU to blacklist nine Russians over jailing of dissident
  6. Russia-Ukraine relations the Year After the war
  7. Why creating a new legal class of 'climate refugees' is a bad idea
  8. Equatorial Guinea: a 'tough nut' for the EU

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us