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

The study found that persons of non-Slavic appearance made up only 4.6 percent ofthe riders on the Metro system but accounted for 50.9 percent of persons stoppedby the police at Metro exits. On average, non-Slavs were 21.8 times more likely to bestopped than Slavs. In one station non-Slavs were 85 times more likely to be stoppedby the police. These are extremely high levels of ethnic disproportion and cannot beexplained on non-discriminatory, legitimate law enforcement grounds. The study alsofound that in the vast majority of instances, the police simply released those whothey had stopped. The study concluded that only 3 percent of police stops on theMetro resulted in the discovery of administration infractions such as the possessionof improper documents.FRANCEEthnic Profiling in ParisIn 2007, the Open Society Justice Initiative, in collaboration with France’s NationalCenter for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Récherche Scientifique) andLamberth Consulting conducted an observational study of police stops at five locationsin central Paris. The study gathered data on 525 stops at different locationsknown for having a high level of police activity. The study also gathered benchmarkdata for over 32,000 persons it the same locations. 165As in Moscow, the study compared the population available to be stopped by policewith the population actually stopped by the police. Both the benchmark data and thestops were categorized according to perceived ethnicity, age, gender, clothing, andthe type of bag carried. In observing stops, monitors also recorded the outcome ofthe stop and, where possible, conducted a brief interview with the person who hadjust been stopped to find out how often they experience police stops, record theirassessment of the officers’ behavior during the stop, and obtain a statement of theirreaction to being stopped.The study confirmed that police stops and identity checks in Paris are principallybased on the appearance of the person stopped, rather than on their behavior oractions. Persons perceived to be black or Arab were stopped at proportionally muchhigher rates than whites. Blacks were overall six times more likely than whites to bestopped by police and Arabs were 7.6 times more likely than whites to be stopped bythe police (specific rates of disproportionality varied among sites). Follow-up interviewswith the individuals who were stopped also suggest that these two groupsregularly experience far more police stops than whites.REDUCING ETHNIC PROFILING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 89