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

As the above examples indicate, data can play a key role in assessing the effectivenessof law enforcement operations like identity checks and stops and searches, andtheir impact on specific groups. Such data can also support improved targeting of theuse of these powers. Studies indicate that in order to be effective, police should targetstops based on up-to-date intelligence on current crime patterns, observations of objectivelysuspicious behavior, and police-community dialogue. 153 High discretion stops,such as the preventive searches in the Netherlands (examined below), tend to have alow productivity rate and often have a disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities. 154NETHERLANDSStudy of Preventive Stop PowersA 2005 Dutch study of the efficiency of preventive searches for weapons in eightDutch cities examined data from 187 preventive search operations conducted from2002 to 2004 in the cities of Amsterdam, Maastricht, Haarlemmermeer, Den Helder,Rotterdam, Heerlen, Utrecht, and Tilburg. The study recorded the cost of the policyin terms of officer-hours and resources.During these operations, 79,499 persons were searched and 2,010 weapons werefound, of which 68 percent were stabbing weapons, 16.8 percent striking weapons,and 2.6 percent firearms.Overall, the study found that the searches disproportionately targeted minorities andthat for every 1,000 people searched, 25 weapons were detected—and this figure wassomewhat inflated by the inclusion of items such as penknives. 155 The cost in termsof police hours spent was extremely high—54 operations in Amsterdam took nearly12,000 hours of police time; resource costs were similarly high for equally limitedresults in Rotterdam. 156 The amount of police time dedicated to these operations—and the low rate of success—show why such large-scale, high-discretion actions areineffective: they foster ethnic profiling while largely failing to uncover crime.Sharing Data with CommunitiesIt is a core principle in gathering statistical ethnic data for law enforcement that theresults should be made public. Particularly given ongoing concerns in many ethnicminority groups regarding the use and potential abuse of ethnic statistics, it is essentialthat ethnic monitoring systems be introduced with the knowledge, consent, and pref-84 ETHNIC MONITORING AND LAW ENFORCEMENT DATA-GATHERING