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

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used, such as those described below, until members of the affected groups understandand accept that the data will not be used in a prejudicial manner.Properly collecting ethnic data requires close scrutiny of the three main stages ofthe process—collection, storage and access—in order to prevent any possible misuseof the data. This is particularly important in law enforcement, where there are clearrisks that ethnic data could be used to facilitate ethnic profiling, rather than reduce it.Data protection standards must balance law enforcement’s need to collect andretain data for purposes of detecting, preventing, and investigating crime against theright to privacy and presumption of innocence. The European Code of Police Ethicsnotes: “The collection, storage and use of personal data by the police shall be carriedout in accordance with international data protection principles and, in particular, belimited to the extent necessary for the performance of lawful, legitimate and specificpurposes.” 140 European standards establish basic principles of necessity and proportionalityof personal data collection—that is, the data must be necessary for a legitimatelaw enforcement purpose, and should not be kept any longer than is necessary for thatpurpose. 141 They also state that sensitive personal data (such as ethnicity and religion)should not be gathered unless domestic law provides appropriate safeguards. 142Police may gather ethnic data on the persons they stop and search for the purposeof detecting discrimination. Given that the majority of the persons stopped face no furtherlegal action and are entirely innocent, their data must be carefully protected, renderedanonymous, and retained only for a limited period of time. 143 Various approachesmay be taken to gathering and using data while protecting privacy. In the United States,New York State law stipulates that stop records must be deleted after six months (deletiondoes not apply to the statistical data with all personal identifiers removed). 144 A pilotproject to generate ethnic data on police stops in Hungary used a form that allowed theethnicity of those stopped to be recorded on a separate and removable section of the stopform, and strictly segregated from all personal information from the time of collection(please see the next section of this report for a description of the pilot project).Gathering Ethnic Data on Policing PracticesThis section considers how stop data can be collected and the challenges faced indoing so.One way to collect the ethnic statistics on policing practices is to require lawenforcement officers to fill out a stop form every time they stop and search someone.The basic purposes of a stop form are to:76 ETHNIC MONITORING AND LAW ENFORCEMENT DATA-GATHERING
• Detect any disproportionality in stops of minority citizens;• Chart how stops are being used by officers (reasons for stops, factors leading tothe development of suspicion, location and outcomes);• Encourage officers to consider carefully their grounds for making stops and thusbe prohibited from making arbitrary stops• Provide a tool for enhanced police supervision; and• Provide a tool for monitoring of police stops by the local communities.In general, stop forms collect the following information:• Personal data of the person stopped (name, age, identity card number whereapplicable, address)• Ethnicity and/or nationality• Name and unit of the officer conducting the stop• Time, date and place of stop• Legal grounds for the stop• Grounds for suspicion• Outcome of the stop (no action/fine/arrest/warning, etc.)• Additional information on specific situations (e.g. stops of several persons oran incident, descriptions of clothing, other information that might be useful forintelligence purposes).Please see copies of stop forms reproduced in Appendix A.Currently, the United Kingdom is the only country to systematically gather nationaldata on law enforcement and ethnicity under legal mandate: British law requires policeforces in England and Wales to gather ethnic data on police stop and search practices. 145The experience of the United Kingdom shows it is possible to collect ethnic data withoutviolating privacy or engaging in discrimination. This information has been collectedsince 1984 and published annually since 1992. Individual police forces share the stopdata on a quarterly basis with local community monitoring groups and on the internet.The London Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) also publishes quarterly statistics on theuse of counter-terrorism stop-and-search powers at the local or borough level. In 2007,the UK Home Office and Immigration and Nationality Directorate conducted a feasibilitystudy on the collection of ethnic data during immigration stops. The study foundthat it is possible to collect ethnic data on immigration decisions to stop and questionREDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 77
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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
Page 27 and 28: The impact of ethnic profiling on c
Page 29 and 30: of the ethnic minorities disproport
Page 31 and 32: II. A Holistic Approachto Reducing
Page 33 and 34: Law enforcement agencies are accoun
Page 35 and 36: III. Legal Standards andInstitution
Page 37 and 38: Criminal and Administrative Legal R
Page 39 and 40: ImmigrationThe Equality Act covers
Page 41 and 42: FRANCEObligation of Non-Discriminat
Page 43 and 44: General principles of good practice
Page 45 and 46: UNITED KINGDOMPolice and Criminal E
Page 47 and 48: has lasted for an hour, the examini
Page 49 and 50: In order to conduct a check using a
Page 51 and 52: the person could pose a threat to p
Page 53 and 54: Improving law enforcement relations
Page 55: IRELANDPolicing Plan 2008The Garda
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Page 60 and 61: complaints commissions that include
Page 62 and 63: Civilian oversight can and should d
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Page 72 and 73: DENMARKThe Danish Institute of Huma
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Page 76 and 77: UNITED KINGDOMThe Communities and L
Page 80 and 81: passengers at borders, although the
Page 82 and 83: UNITED KINGDOMMerseyside Police Rev
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Page 96 and 97: UNITED STATESAttitudinal Survey of
Page 98 and 99: UNITED KINGDOMThe Views of the Publ
Page 100 and 101: NORTHERN IRELANDBeyond the Margins:
Page 102 and 103: DENMARKMedia Reporting of Police St
Page 105 and 106: VI. Strategies for Reducing EthnicD
Page 107 and 108: people were stopped and valuable po
Page 109 and 110: only do so if the measure is determ
Page 111 and 112: Supervision and Oversight of Front-
Page 113 and 114: This is not to say that stop forms
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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
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This handbook recommends that law e
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Where possible, training should inc
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SWEDENPolice and Youth Sharing Expe
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Training in the Counter-radicalizat
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VIII. Changing Institutional Cultur
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and Wales have used the package. Mo
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NORTHERN IRELANDCreating a More Bal
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Moroccan man. Another minority offi
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General principles of good practice
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other characteristics or values. Co
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Take steps to ensure that all parts
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Law enforcement agencies must be se
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A large number of Polish migrants h
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variety of individuals with “life
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UNITED KINGDOMCommunity Stop and Se
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their needs, and problems, and hear
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to travel as far as Liverpool to ac
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The strategy includes multiple init
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The website provides an interactive
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Appendix A:Sample Stop Forms171
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REDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EU
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Fuenlabrada, Spain Stop FormREDUCIN
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West Yorkshire Police Stop ReceiptR
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Covenant rights that are especially
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• Necessity: The use of ethnic pr
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The clear risk of arbitrariness in
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The Committee considers that identi
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adopted on June 29, 2007, CRI/Counc
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European Union Fundamental Rights A
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Notes1. Rebekah Delsol, Open Societ
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13. A report of MI5’s behavioral
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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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