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

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UNITED KINGDOMCommunity Stop and Search Scrutiny Panels:West Yorkshire Police and Suffolk ConstabularyThe West Yorkshire Police and Suffolk Constabulary panels are the only advisorygroup structures in the United Kingdom that directly examine stop forms.The West Yorkshire Police Scrutiny Panels focus on hate incidents and stop andsearch; they meet monthly in each district. Each panel has between 8 and 20members from other public agencies and local communities. The police representationon the panels varies, but the guidelines require the presence of at least oneofficer of inspector level.Each panel meeting examines at least ten stop and stop and search forms; five stopand searches of ethnic minorities and five selected from all available forms. Formsare randomly selected by community members in advance (all personal informationis removed). The officers who conducted the stops supply a photocopy of their pocketbook or supplemental report to provide fuller information about the circumstances ofeach stop to the panel. Panel members examine the data, ask questions, determinewhether the forms have been completed correctly, and whether the grounds for thestop were adequate. Several divisions have recently launched youth scrutiny panels,in recognition that it was hard to attract young people to the general scrutiny panels.This initiative is in its infancy, but early panels were well attended with 14-20 youngpeople, who are given some background information on stops and searches, andthen scrutinized a selection of stop forms and can ask questions.The West Yorkshire Police has recently introduced an electronic stop and searchsystem, which allows stops to be recorded on a BlackBerry ® mobile device. (Pleasesee Appendix A for the West Yorkshire BlackBerry ® form.) This creates real-timedata on stops and searches that can be actively compared to local crime maps. Thissystem has just been rolled out and scrutiny panels are in the process of workingout what stop data they need for effective monitoring and how best to display it. Thepanels are also given data based on local community satisfaction surveys, whichfeeds into their scrutiny. One of the greatest challenges of the panels is the lackof legal expertise and knowledge of stop-and-search practices among civilian panelmembers. Stop Hate UK, a national charity working supporting victims of hate crimeis providing on-going training on hate crime and stop and search.An independent evaluation found that panel members view the scrutiny panels asproviding accountability and transparency, making stops and searches equitable,and promoting confidence in stop-and-search practices. 238 The fact that officers arerequired to regularly submit further information about their stops means that both158 COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND INVOLVEMENT
officers and their supervisors (who are required to sign off the forms) are aware thattheir practice is being scrutinized. The scrutiny panels are organized by the police,and are thus embedded within institutional structures and more likely to feed intooperational decision-making. There is clear evidence of police commitment to thepanels and willingness to respond to problems raised. The evaluation found improvementsin the quality of recording and the supervision of that recording.In 2008, the Suffolk Constabulary formed a stop and search reference panel. Researchconducted by the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality (ISCRE) found thatin Suffolk black people were stopped at a rate 9 times greater than the rate for whitepeople; higher than the national average, and in some rural parts of the county thisincreased to rates as high as 22 to 1. 239 This research led to the development of a stopand search scrutiny panel organized by the Equality Council, sitting independentlyof the police. The group meets monthly in the evening at different locations aroundthe county. The group scrutinizes district-wide performance, looking at all stops andsearches of people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Forms are reviewed in advanceof each monthly meeting by the Equality Council and a number are brought forwardto the police for discussion at the meeting. The police provide information on thestops to the group which is then discussed. The panel also discusses complaintsabout stop and search reported by third parties; monitors the impact of the use ofstop and search in the community; and contributes to the forces’ stop-and-searchpolicy, procedures and training. (Please see Appendix A for the Suffolk stop form.)The Suffolk scrutiny panel has wide and diverse community participation, encouragedby the independence of the Equality Council. Meetings are challenging and, becausecommunity members have a good understanding of the law and context surroundingstop-and-search practice, provide a real opportunity to hold officers accountable fortheir actions. Where officer completion of stop forms is done well, they get positivefeedback. Where forms are poorly completed and the grounds for the stop are questionable,follow-up action ranges from words of advice to management action. Someofficers and sergeants have been encouraged to attend the meeting in order to properlyunderstand the impact of their actions. The reference group is currently exploringhow to include quantitative stop-and-search data in their scrutiny, and ensure thatdiscussions at the reference group feed into operational decision-making.In Ireland, the Inter-Racial Cultural Office holds an annual consultation meetingwith ethnic minority communities to discuss best practice, minorities’ needs and concerns,the work of ethnic liaison officers, among other topics. In 2008, the researchunit of the Inter-racial Cultural Office distributed questionnaires to gauge minorities’opinions of the police. Ireland also has local consultation forums, and superintendentsare required to meet with minority groups in their district four times a year to discussREDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 159
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OPEN SOCIETY JUSTICE INITIATIVERedu
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described in this report. The case
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List of Case StudiesThe case studie
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UNITED KINGDOMAUSTRIA/BELGIUM/BULGA
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UNITED KINGDOMUNITED KINGDOMNETHERL
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The United Nations, the Council of
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I. Ethnic Profiling DefinedA Compre
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The use by the police, with no obje
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explicitly on their membership in a
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of the persons subjected thereto sh
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The impact of ethnic profiling on c
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of the ethnic minorities disproport
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II. A Holistic Approachto Reducing
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Law enforcement agencies are accoun
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III. Legal Standards andInstitution
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Criminal and Administrative Legal R
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ImmigrationThe Equality Act covers
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FRANCEObligation of Non-Discriminat
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General principles of good practice
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UNITED KINGDOMPolice and Criminal E
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has lasted for an hour, the examini
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In order to conduct a check using a
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the person could pose a threat to p
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Improving law enforcement relations
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IRELANDPolicing Plan 2008The Garda
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officer misconduct more than patter
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complaints commissions that include
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Civilian oversight can and should d
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In Ireland and Northern Ireland, po
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These case studies also demonstrate
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NETHERLANDSNational OmbudsmanThe Du
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UNITED KINGDOM / NORTHERN IRELANDNo
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DENMARKThe Danish Institute of Huma
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• the impact of race• the use o
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UNITED KINGDOMThe Communities and L
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used, such as those described below
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passengers at borders, although the
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UNITED KINGDOMMerseyside Police Rev
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Reducing Ethnic Profiling and Impro
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As the above examples indicate, dat
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Research Approaches and Methodologi
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Observational studies were pioneere
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The study revealed that in addition
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esponses, and in some cases, broad
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UNITED STATESAttitudinal Survey of
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UNITED KINGDOMThe Views of the Publ
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NORTHERN IRELANDBeyond the Margins:
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DENMARKMedia Reporting of Police St
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VI. Strategies for Reducing EthnicD
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people were stopped and valuable po
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Page 111 and 112: Supervision and Oversight of Front-
Page 113 and 114: This is not to say that stop forms
Page 115 and 116: • Recording of self-defined ethni
Page 117 and 118: UNITED KINGDOM“Know Your Rights
Page 119 and 120: Prior to the ride-alongs, many Hung
Page 121 and 122: General principles of good practice
Page 123 and 124: UNITED KINGDOMMonitoring the Qualit
Page 125: GREECEProhibition of Racist Languag
Page 128 and 129: This handbook recommends that law e
Page 130 and 131: Where possible, training should inc
Page 132 and 133: SWEDENPolice and Youth Sharing Expe
Page 134 and 135: Training in the Counter-radicalizat
Page 137 and 138: VIII. Changing Institutional Cultur
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Page 141 and 142: NORTHERN IRELANDCreating a More Bal
Page 143 and 144: Moroccan man. Another minority offi
Page 147: General principles of good practice
Page 150 and 151: other characteristics or values. Co
Page 152 and 153: Take steps to ensure that all parts
Page 154 and 155: Law enforcement agencies must be se
Page 156 and 157: A large number of Polish migrants h
Page 158 and 159: variety of individuals with “life
Page 162 and 163: their needs, and problems, and hear
Page 164 and 165: to travel as far as Liverpool to ac
Page 166 and 167: The strategy includes multiple init
Page 168 and 169: The website provides an interactive
Page 173 and 174: Appendix A:Sample Stop Forms171
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Page 185 and 186: Fuenlabrada, Spain Stop FormREDUCIN
Page 191: West Yorkshire Police Stop ReceiptR
Page 194 and 195: Covenant rights that are especially
Page 196 and 197: • Necessity: The use of ethnic pr
Page 198 and 199: The clear risk of arbitrariness in
Page 200 and 201: The Committee considers that identi
Page 202 and 203: adopted on June 29, 2007, CRI/Counc
Page 204 and 205: European Union Fundamental Rights A
Page 207 and 208: Notes1. Rebekah Delsol, Open Societ
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38. From the email text sent by Tem
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57. R. Davis and P. Mateu-Gelabert,
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88. Gillan and Quinton v. United Ki
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Ireland). Of the total number of co
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139. For example, European Commissi
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165. Open Society Justice Initiativ
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197. These can be found at: http://
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230. More information can be found
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266. To undertake this kind of anal
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279. In Rosalind Williams, Spanish
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Ethnic profiling by police in Europ
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