13.07.2015 Views

Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union - Open Society ...

Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union - Open Society ...

Reducing Ethnic Profiling in the European Union - Open Society ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS
  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

This handbook recommends that law enforcement agencies adopt a more practicaland holistic approach to tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g. Practical tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g l<strong>in</strong>ked to specific powers, actions,and activities of <strong>the</strong> police is usually more effective than general diversity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g.General Diversity Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gIn order to recognize and encourage greater understand<strong>in</strong>g of diversity issues, lawenforcement agencies across <strong>the</strong> EU commonly provide diversity or sensitivity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g.Diversity and sensitivity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g are popular <strong>in</strong> many work environments beyond lawenforcement.“Diversity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g” or “sensitivity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g” seeks to address personal feel<strong>in</strong>gsabout ethnicity, difference, stereotypes and how <strong>the</strong>se <strong>in</strong>fluence our daily lives. Diversitycourses do not necessarily discuss discrim<strong>in</strong>ation. Some studies argue that cultural anddiversity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g can <strong>in</strong> fact s<strong>in</strong>gle out and re<strong>in</strong>force differences, <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g ra<strong>the</strong>r thanreduc<strong>in</strong>g stereotyp<strong>in</strong>g.A large-scale study of <strong>the</strong> impact of diversity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> chang<strong>in</strong>g behavior <strong>in</strong>private companies <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> USA found no evidence that it works, and some evidence thatit may be counter-productive. 210 The study was based on large-scale data on diversity <strong>in</strong>US corporations and does not make a causal analysis, but found ei<strong>the</strong>r no improvementor a decrease <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>ority representation <strong>in</strong> senior positions <strong>in</strong> those companies thatadopted this approach.Cultural Sensitivity Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gCultural sensitivity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g (as opposed to general diversity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g) seeks to educateofficers about <strong>the</strong> culture of specific ethnic groups with which <strong>the</strong>y have frequent contactbut with whom <strong>the</strong>y lack personal familiarity. This type of tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g addresses <strong>the</strong>“do’s and don’ts” of engag<strong>in</strong>g with particular communities, and provides guidance onpoliteness viewed through different ethnic, religious, or national perspectives. Culturaltra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g is best when developed and delivered with <strong>the</strong> assistance and participation ofpersons from <strong>the</strong> relevant communities.Across Europe <strong>the</strong>re are numerous examples of <strong>in</strong>ter-cultural or diversity tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>gfor law enforcement officers, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g a two-day <strong>in</strong>ter-cultural competence course forborder police at Frankfurt Airport <strong>in</strong> Germany which does not address discrim<strong>in</strong>ation,diversity and anti-racism tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g focused on Muslims and Islam for military police withimmigration controls and anti-terrorism duties at Schiphol Airport <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands,126 TRAINING

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!