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

IX. Community Outreach andInvolvementIn order to reduce ethnic profiling, the relationship between law enforcement agenciesand the diverse communities they serve must change. Efforts to monitor and addressethnic profiling must engage with the ethnic minority and immigrant communitiesaffected by profiling practices.Research has demonstrated that positive contacts with law enforcement increasepublic satisfaction and trust. Greater trust in police should improve rates of crimereporting and cooperation with police in crime prevention and investigation. Outreachcan identify particular law enforcement patterns and practices that generate tension;identify individuals who may engage with training, advisory committees, and otherpolice-civilian interactions; and identify policing priorities and approaches with thesupport of the community, including alternatives to stop and search.This chapter examines community outreach, including community policing, therole of specialized operational units, community involvement, and working with “hardto-reach”and “hard-to-hear” groups. Promoting the involvement of local communitiesin decisions about how they are policed is central to ensuring fair, effective, and accountablepolicing.Community outreach efforts almost always confront the question of who representsthe community, and which voices are accepted as legitimate partners or interlocutors.There is often confusion about what is meant when talking about “community”and related terms such as “engagement,” “empowerment,” “participation,” and “consultation.”By community, this handbook refers to a group or section of the populationwho are defined by commonalities of geography, occupation, age, ethnicity, religion, or147