 When the breaking waves of BLM (Black Lives Matter) protests in the US after George Floyd’s death crashed ashore in Europe, questions about police racism, racial profiling and police brutality were re-ignited in Europe too. Focusing on the question of discriminatory profiling by police this essay looks into these topics: Discriminatory profiling Evidence of discriminatory profiling in Europe Ethnic differences in crime Discriminatory profiling, a necessary evil? Looking away to avoid accusations of racism Contra-productive effects of condemning racial profiling Criminal gangs and clans confronting police and the judicial system In defence of unequal treatment Protests missing the point and systems not fit for purpose Discriminatory profiling? In the media there is frequently talk of racial or ethnic profiling in headlines like these: “London police accused of racial profiling in lockdown searches” (The Guardian); “Racial Profiling ist weit verbreitet.” (Die Zeit Online); “Does Sweden have a racial profiling problem? (Christian Science Monitor); “The Impact of Ethnic Profiling in the Netherlands” (Open Society). But what is racial or ethnic profiling? According to the UN Human Rights Council racial and ethnic profiling is defined as “a reliance by law enforcement, security and border control personnel on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as a basis for subjecting persons to detailed searches, identity checks and investigations” or for determining whether an individual was engaged in criminal activity.” “https://undocs.org/pdf?symbol=en/a/hrc/29/46 An “Expanded Pocket Book on Human Rights for the Police” published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, defines unlawful discrimination thus: “In protecting and serving the community, police shall not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, language, colour, political opinion, national origin, property, birth or other status.” However, these definitions are too wide. It is only when relying solely or mainly on race and ethnicity, colour etc. that profiling may be deemed discriminatory and thus unlawful. “Where officers stop individuals, and this choice is based solely or mainly on the individual’s race, ethnicity or religion, this amounts to direct discrimination and is unlawful (FRA). Police profiling may be found in relation to: Identity checks Stops and searches Verbal abuse Dispersal of groups Issuance of cautions, arrests or detentions Focus on certain urban areas Use of excessive power when making arrests Raids Surveillance Data-mining Anti-radicalisation policies Not all profiling is discriminatory and thus unlawful We have emphasized solely or mainly, as it may be perfectly legitimate for police to use racial or ethnic characteristics in in what could be called criminal profiling. This would for instance be the case when looking for a suspect after a crime has been committed. Here efficient police work may include a criminal profile containing physical features, ethnicity, colour, manner of dress etc. without this could be seen as discriminatory profiling. Educated assumptions derived from past experience and training may be included in profiling, provided that the main focus is on behaviour rather racial ethnic or religious characteristics. Thus, it would be more correct to talk of discriminatory profiling, instead of racial or ethnical profiling. In practice it may exceeding difficult to discern between discriminatory and criminal profiling, but when looking for signs of discriminatory profiling, media and human rights groups often look at the frequency of stop and search activities involving members of different ethnic groups, some sort of survey of what people believe is the reason for being stopped and searched, or very popular in the media, anecdotes or single case stories involving people, who feel they have been stopped because of their ethnicity or colour. Not necessarily very convincing reporting, as it is often limited to one side of the story. What are we to make of the recent media story based upon the accusation of racial profiling by a black police inspector stopped by police? Police arguing that the inspector was stopped for driving at speed and it "looked like he had gone through a red light.” Discriminatory profiling or relevant police work? On the other hand the Guardian states: “Black people are 9.7 times more likely than white people to be stopped and searched.” Certainly conveying the impression that Black people are unfairly discriminated against. But is it that simple? Don’t we have to compare such frequency comparisons of different ethnic groups with their respective share of the population? Or even more relevant in relation to their share in crime. Simple frequency comparisons and anecdotes does not seem satisfactory as proof of widespread discriminatory profiling. In the following we shall if it is possible to find more convincing evidence of discriminatory profiling. Evidence of discriminatory profiling in Europe How widespread is discriminatory profiling actually? To get an idea we look for evidence in some countries: Profiling in the UK A publication from The Ministry of Justice in the UK concludes: “In general, minority ethnic groups appear to be overrepresented at many stages throughout the CJS [Criminal Justice System] compared with the White ethnic group. The greatest disparity appears at the point of stop and search, arrests, custodial sentencing and prison population. Among minority ethnic groups, Black individuals were often the most over-represented.” (Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2018). Stop and search rates certainly show marked differences for different ethnic groups: Stop and search rates per 1,000 people by ethnicity: All 7 White 4 Black 38 Mixed 11 Asian 11 Chinese 1 Stop and search activities involving Blacks thus happen almost 10 times more frequently than among Whites. Comparing these stop and search rates for the ethnic groups with their share of the population of England and Wales the picture of discrimination becomes even more glaring. The 2011 census show that the White population make up 80,5 % of the population, Blacks make up only 3,3%, Mixed/Multiple ethnic group 2,2 % Asians 7,5%, and Chinese 0,7%. Thus Blacks may only make up around 4% of the White population. According to 2018 data from the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), 43% of searches were of Black people, who make up only 15,6 % of the population of London, while 35,5% were of White people, who make up 59,8% of the population. Indicating a large degree of racial profiling. The metropolitan police explanation: “Knife crime and street violence disproportionately affects boys and young men, particularly of African-Caribbean heritage both in terms of victims and perpetrators.” Meaning of course that police has to focus on members of these ethnic groups. Profiling in Denmark The question of discriminatory profiling was raised by a public television program in 2018 called “I politiets vold: Mørk og mistænkt (Apprehended by Police: Dark and Suspected). Data from a few years back showed that non-western migrants and their descendants had a 86-88 % higher risk of being arrested without subsequent prosecution compared to ethnic Danes. The evidence of discriminatory profiling of non-western immigrants and their descendants was taken up in a question to the Minister of Justice by a member of Parliament. In his answer the minister stated that police only recorded ethnicity when necessary, meaning that there was no systematic recording of ethnicity. Which of course raises the question of the validity of data used to accuse the police of profiling. According to the minister there may be instances in which police will find it relevant to direct attention towards a certain ethnic group or individuals with a certain ethnic background. It might be relevant when looking for certain individuals in connection with a case. Police may also have extra focus on urban problem areas with larger share of migrants and their descendants. (Retsudvalget 13. Juni 2018). The recent Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the US and elsewhere has raised the question if racism and discrimination might also be found in the Danish police. This was categorically denied by the president of the Danish Políce Union: “There is no racism in the Danish Police.” If people from certain ethnic groups were stopped more than ethics Danes, he argued, it might be because of a policeman’s sixth sense. One wonders if this means that police actually use a kind of profiling based upon gut feelings. Interviews with people from ethnic minorities indicate that they feel that the police is practising discriminatory profiling. “First and foremost, they feel that they have been exposed to ethnic profiling by the Danish police, and that they are often stopped by the police. How often depends on several different factors, including age, mode of transport and whether you are traveling alone or with friends. It is seen that the older one is, the lower the probability of being stopped. In addition, the minority ethnic men are more vulnerable if they drive a car, and in particular an expensive car, or if they go with one or more friends.” (Master’s thesis, Aalborg University). While it is difficult to find the same unequivocal data that we had for the UK, it would seem that one can detect a certain whiff of police discrimination also in Denmark, but if that is the case it is for a reason as both minister and union president argue. No wonder then that Minister of Justice recently rejected calls for an investigation of possible discrimination in the Danish police. Profiling in Sweden Like Denmark Sweden has no systematic data collection comparable to the data found in the UK. Instead we have to rely on opinions, small surveys and public television documentaries stirring up the issue of racial discrimination, just like in Denmark. In the Swedish case a documentary called “De utpekade# (The blamed ones) from 2019. The documentary is based upon the views of around a hundred individuals who claim to the victims of racial profiling. One wonders if these documentaries inspire each other. More data on Sweden are found in a relatively recent survey: “The European Union’s Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS, 2017).” In a sample of a few hundred people with minority ethnic background, 60% of those stopped by police during the 12 months prior to the survey claimed that their most recent check by police were due to racial/ethnic profiling. Sweden actually ranked fourth among the countries surveyed. An old survey from 2000 indirect indicates police discrimination in relation a stop and search operation in which police were looking for possession of narcotics. Hit rate for people with ethnic Swedish background was 67%, while the hit rate for people of non-western background was only 24%. “According to studies about Afro-Swedes, young men in particular are affected by racial/ethnic profiling. In qualitative studies, informants speak of spontaneous police interrogations, routine body searches, and vehicle checks” (“Randomly Selected” 2017). A Swedish government report on power, integration and structural discrimination based upon hearings among ethnic minorities concludes: “The majority of the participants in all three hearings express great scepticism, fear and distrust of the police and the judiciary in Sweden. A general perception is that the police and the judiciary treat people with a foreign background - those who are considered different in terms of skin colour, accent or background - in a harsher and more unfair way than those with a non-foreign background. Some participants even testify about how they and acquaintances of the police have been subjected to unprovoked violence, torture-like beatings and racist insults.” (SOU 2005:69 Sverige inifrån). Responses to accusations of ethnic discrimination have been similar to those found in Denmark. Swedish police do not discriminate, but in crime-ridden urban areas with large proportion of ethnic minorities, people may of course be subject to more stop and searches. As one respondent in survey on profiling put it ““There are ten police vehicles in Rosengård [Crime ridden area in Malmö], but none in a privileged area like Limhamn.” Just as in Denmark more frequent stop and search activities directed at ethnic minorities are also explained as being initiated by the fine-tuned senses, or gut feelings of policemen. “For now, the law enforcement has only indicated that the problem of police officers conducting themselves in the wrong manner is on an individual level and not a structural problem in the police force.” (Lund University). Profiling in Germany In Germany it is next to impossible to find data on racial profiling as the data and official statistics on ethnicity and race are not collected for obvious reasons, related to the racial and ethnic atrocities committed during Nazi period 1933-1945. Before the recent BLM (Black Life Matters) protests racial profiling was mostly discussed in papers and theses on the power granted to the police, and in relation to a few exemplary court cases related to these powers. Often quoted is a paper from Deutsches Institute für Menschenrechte (German Institute for Human Rights) questioning the right of police to carry out checks that may violate human rights (Menschenrechtswidrige Personenkontrollen). The paper focuses especially on §22 para. 1a of the BPolG (Federal Police Law), which authorizes the federal police to check people in Germany without any specific suspicion, for instance in order “to prevent unauthorized entry.” The right to carry out checks without specific suspicion is seen as undermining human rights and giving rise discriminatory profiling based on race and ethnicity. Data to show that is it happening in practice is lacking, except for reference to one court case, individual anecdotes and a series of complaints. Some spurious data may be found in the survey “The European Union’s Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS, 2017). A survey of people from South Saharan Africa (SSAFR) stopped by German police during the 12 months prior to the survey, found that 42% claimed that their most recent check by police were due to racial/ethnic profiling, which ranks Germany in the middle of the countries surveyed. For the five years preceding the survey 34% of people from SSAFR claimed that the they had been stopped as a result of ethnic profiling. In 2017 Germany was visited by the “United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.” The Working Group “assessed the human rights situation of people of African descent living in Germany, and gathered information on the forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia and related intolerance they face.” In their report the Working Group “found that racial profiling by police officials is endemic. Civil society sources reported that stops, identification checks, searches and other controls by police are usually targeted at minority groups, including people of African descent. Boys and young men experience day-to-day confrontation with law enforcement officials, with a high risk of imprisonment.” After the BLM protests in USA were followed by BLM protests in Germany, Saskia Esken, co-leader of the SPD party, argued that latent racism was also found in the ranks of German security forces. "Tens of thousands of protesters are rallying all over the world, … However, German protesters are also looking at the situation on their own doorstep." The protests also led Germany's federal Justice and Interior Ministry to propose a study that would probe the use of "racial profiling" by the Police. A short time later the Minister saw no need for the study, arguing that there was no problem of structural racism in the German police: "We have had constant criticism of the German police for weeks, including denigrations. On the other hand, we are massively fighting against racism in general. Not only in the police, but in the entire public service, if it exists " (Horst Seehofer) But pressure is building up again. A petition to the Bundestag is seeking support for such a study. An example shows that a segment of the German public is prepared to see police racism and brutality in police actions, whatever the circumstances. Like in the US they see their opinion confirmed by a few seconds of a videoclip published in social media by bystanders. One such clip stems from a police action in Hamburg in August 2020, A strongly built 15 years old black boy is stopped by police in Hamburg for violating e-scooter regulation. In the clip he standing with his back against wall that happens to be sprayed with a “Please, I can’t breathe” graffiti. The boy resists arrest, more police show up and the boy finally ends on pavement held down by police. He then cries “Ich krieg’ keine Luft.” (I can’t Breathe) The drama is perfect. Here we see German police acting exactly like US policemen acted against George Floyd.” No, actually what we are seeing is a boy resisting arrest and being subdued as humanely as possible. What else was the police supposed to do? Even so this video led to renewed protests and accusations of racial profiling and police violence. The German police itself seem to have a view similar to their Danish and Swedish Colleagues, for instance talking like them of urban problem areas with a high proportion of minorities necessitating extra attention. Ethnic differences in crime What we have seen seems to provide clear evidence of discriminatory profiling in for instance stop and search activities by police in the UK. In the other countries the data are more indirect and even vague, but the material we have found would seem to indicate some form of discriminatory profiling. Profiling not in the sense that we have evidence showing that officers stop individuals, solely or mainly on the individual’s race, ethnicity or religion. To be precise the evidence we have show that certain ethic groups are overrepresented in stop and search activities in proportion to their share of population in the case of the UK. In the other countries the evidence we have indicate that a high proportion of individual members of minority ethnic groups feel or claim that they are only stopped and searched because only of their visible ethnicity. Minority ethnic groups, human rights groups and mainstream media see this as clear evidence of unlawful discriminatory racial or ethnic profiling carried out by police forces, implying also that this represents inefficient police work, and carries the risk of heightened animosity towards police among minority groups. Actually, the evidence does not show discriminatory and inefficient police work directly. What if ethnic groups are overrepresented in crime statistics, convictions and prison populations? If that were to be the case it would certainly weaken the accusation of discriminatory profiling and of course also of inefficient police work. This means we to look closely at crime statistics to see if this will confirm accusations of discriminatory and inefficient policing or on contrary show that racial/ethnic profiling is carried out for reason, because certain ethnic minorities have higher crime rates. Ethnic minorities representation in crime statistics in the UK Crime statistics can be found in “Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2018” published by the Ministry of Justice. A look first on the frequency of stop and searches for ethnic groups confirms what we have already seen. Some ethnic groups are overrepresented when compared to their share of the population Numbers of stops and searches by ethnicity; England Wales  Comparing the percentages stops and searches of Blacks (22% in 2019) and Asian (13% in 2019) with their share of the population, Blacks making up around 3.3% and Asians 7,5%, confirms the overrepresentations of these ethnic groups in stops and searches. But could there be a legitimate reason for the overrepresentation? To what degree were stop and searches actually followed by arrests? For 2018/2019 the data show that Blacks accounted for 20% of all arrests resulting from stops and searches. While other ethnic groups accounted for significantly smaller percentages of the total, between 6% and 13%. This might at the very least indicate that the overrepresentation of Blacks in stops and searches is not just a result of police prejudice and unlawful profiling but can be explained by a higher hit rate of arrests. Even more telling are comparisons of the proportions of prisoners by ethnicity as a result of convictions. Proportions of prisoners by ethnicity and age group, England and Wales  It is abundantly clear that there is an overrepresentation of Blacks in prison. The group under 18 make up 29% of the prison population, but Blacks are overrepresented in all age groups. Mixed and Asian are overrepresented to a lesser degree, while whites are underrepresented in most age groups. Looking at these data one is forced to conclude that racial/ethnic profiling in for instance stop and searches is found for a good reason. With knife offences hitting a record high in London in 2019, a lot of interest has focused on the question of the ethnicity of the perpetrators. Metropolitan Police show these data: People proceeded against for knife crime broken down by ethnicity (MetHQ):  Looking at the percentages representation of ethnic groups we find that 48% are Afro-Caribian, followed 32 % White European, and 11% Asian. The ethnic shares of the population of London (although the classification is not quite the same), show that almost 60% percent are White, 13.3 % Black and 18.5 % Asian (Gov.UK). We thus find a very significant overrepresentation of Blacks as perpetrators of knife crimes, compared with their share of the population. Whites are underrepresented as well as Asians. No wonder then that we find Blacks are overrepresented in stop and search activities, and police can argue with good reason that “Knife crime and street violence disproportionately affects boys and young men, particularly of African- Caribbean heritage both in terms of victims and perpetrators.” Ethnic minorities representation in crime statistics in Denmark Statistical data for migrants and their descendants can be found in Danmarks Statistik (Statistics Denmark). Data found here allow us to compare the frequency of ethnic minority groups involvement in crime compared to ethnic Danes. The following graph compares frequency of violations of the criminal law for Immigrants from western countries (Ind. vestlige lande) Immigrants from non-western countries (Indv. ikke vestlige lande) Descendants from western countries (Eftk. vestlige lande) Descendants from non-western countries (Eftk. Ikke-vestlige lande) Danish origin (Dansk oprindelsee  What we find are significantly higher rates of crime for non-western immigrants, especially among their descendants. 5.7% of the age group 20-24 have been found guilty of committing one or more violations of the criminal law. For descendants from western countries in the same age group the percentage is 2.0% and for people of Danish origin it is 1.5%. The crime rate for the young, non-western descendants is thus almost 4 times as high as for those of Danish origin. Through the whole age spectrum we find significantly crime rates higher for migrants and descendants from non-western countries. No wonder then that police may have a heightened focus on especially on young male members of non-western ethnic groups. While this may lead members of this groups to feel that they are subject to ethnic profiling, it can certainly not be seen a simple case of racial and ethical prejudice. In fact, if police ignored the data showing higher crime rates for these groups they could be accused of failing in their in duty. Looking at the crime ridden, especially vulnerable residential areas or SUBs (Særligt Udsatte Boligområder), containing by a high proportion of non-western migrants and descendants, the data shows that there are far more criminal charges per 1000 inhabitants in these areas than in Denmark as a whole (politi.dk).  We find that there are 61.7 charges per 1000 inhabitants in the SUB areas, while the number for the whole country is 22,1 per 1000. Meaning 2.8 more charges per 1000 inhabitants in the SUB areas. 16.9 and 7.1 represent the number of charged individuals per 1000. While 3.7 and 3.1 represent the number of charges per individual (61.7 /16.9 = 3.7). These data would certainly seem to warrant the extra police focus on urban problem areas with a larger share of migrants and their descendants. The extra focus may be seen as racial/ethnic profiling by people in those areas, but the focus is there for a legitimate reason. Critics may say that the crime frequency comparisons are unfair, arguing that people in the SUB areas are living under less favourable socio-economic conditions than the rest of the population, and that comparisons with people of Danish origin living in similar circumstances might show a fairer picture. The attempt to explain (or somehow excuse) higher crime rates with socio-economic factors does not alter the fact that crime rates are in fact higher in certain ethnic groups and within certain areas, and this warrants the extra attention. Ethnic minorities representation in crime statistics in the Sweden In Sweden there has been a marked reluctance for Crime statistics to register ethnicity and whether crimes have been committed by ethnic Swedes or by migrants or their descendants. Adamson describes how registrations distinguishing between “Swedes” and “immigrants” were seen as in itself implying that migrants might be more prone to commit crimes. He quotes the typical argument against registration found in a major Swedish newspaper: “The right-wing extremists and their lies about a connection between ethnicity and crime, … cannot pass unchallenged. But we need a serious debate. We certainly do not need crime statistics the mere presence of which only fuel racist prejudices.” (Aftonbladet, June 27, 2002). This seems to represent the dominating view in Sweden at least until recently. Do not collect data on crimes committed by minority ethnic groups, and we may convince ourselves that they are no more criminal than native Swedes. No data, no crime, because data would fuel ethnic prejudice. What we don’t see does not exist, somewhat like the wise three monkeys: not seeing, not hearing, not talking. A rather fantastic attempt to convince the population that what cannot be, must not be. Only recently has there been attempts by Adamson and others to collect data on crime distinguishing between ethnic groups, migrants and descendants. Arguing that “The assumption that certain methodological distinctions must be kept out of sight of the public is dangerous and anti-democratic. Integration of marginalized groups is impossible without scientific data.” (Adamson 2020). In Adamson’s article “Migrants and Crime in Sweden in the Twenty-First Century” the following table summarises the over-risk of crime committed by non- native Swedes. Total number of crimes and over-risk suspicion of crime:  Note the over risk (> 2.0) related to descendants of foreign born parents and of people born in Africa, West Asia and Latin America. The contrasts sharply with the numbers for those of Western and East Asian origin (around 0.9). Other sources quoted present a similar picture. Here just some results with relation to serious crime. Of 100 criminals investigated in connection with gunfire in public places 90% had foreign born parents. Of 192 individuals found to be members of criminal gangs or linked criminal networks, 82% were migrants. Of individuals registered for rape or attempted rape between 2012a and 2017 58% were foreign born. Setting these numbers in relation to proportion of migrants and the descendants show the overrepresentation. 22% of the population in Sweden are migrants (17%) or their descendants (5%). A report by Engellau published in 2019 documents the overrepresentation of migrants and descendants from certain areas in connection with 5 types of crime: Murder, abuse, rape, robbery, and theft.  Looking at serious crime we see a marked overrepresentation of migrants and descendants from West Asia, Africa and Latin America in relation to murder, abuse, rape and robbery. Looking the extreme overrepresentation of certain ethnic groups and their descendants one might argue that police would fail in their duties if they did not have a special focus on especially male members of these ethnic groups. Indicating that ethnic profiling is both sensible and contributing to heightened efficiency. Exactly as we have seen the in the case of UK and Denmark. That Sweden will have to focus more on the relation between crime, especially serious crime, and the high influx of migrants from certain areas, has recently become abundantly clear. Just a few days ago prime minister Löfven indicated a shift in the Socialdemocratic Party’s view on the connection between crime and migration. Having always rejected that there was a connection or excused a possible connection with reference to what migrants may have experienced or to their poor socio-economic condition, Löfven suddenly sounded differently, although still rather circumspect in his statement: “If you have a migration that of a magnitude that integration cannot cope with, then we will get social tensions in a society and that is not good.” Ethnic minorities representation in crime statistics in the Germany Like in Sweden the discussion about the connection between the crime and ethnicity is a very sensitive one. But media reporting on spectacular or unusual crimes committed by refugees/migrants or foreigners in general, strengthen the feeling that members of these groups are more involved in serious crime than the rest of the German population. “Über Straftaten, an denen Flüchtlinge und Migranten beteiligt sind, wird besonders intensiv berichtet, und sie bestärken Bedenken inwiefern die Zuwanderungsprozesse zu bewältigen sind.” Especially in connection with large influx of refugees/migrants in 2015/2016 there has been growing feeling of insecurity. According to a victimization survey (Viktimisierungssurvey) from 2017, the population in general is feeling less secure in 2017 than in 2012 “Zwar fühlt sich somit eine Mehrheit recht sicher, doch im Vergleich zu 2012 ist der Anteil derjenigen gewachsen, die sich eher unsicher oder sehr unsicher fühlen … Im Jahr 2017 fühlen sich 21,5 % der Bürgerinnen und Bürger unsicher, 2012 waren es 17,3%. Even though official crime statistics show that for 2017 the total number of crimes registered is at the lowest in 25 years. Why then do we see a growing feeling of insecurity? While the overall decline in crime may be used, and is used, to calm the feeling of insecurity, it does not really tell us anything about the connection between crime and groups of refugees/migrants, especially in relation to the more serious crimes that have alarmed people, and contributed to a feeling of insecurity. But German crime statistics are tricky. We don’t find the same detailed data on race/ethnicity like those we found in the UK and Denmark. In general, we have to use more aggregated data, just discerning between Germans in the legal sense and non-Germans, which does not allow detailed conclusions. Just like in Sweden there are voices claiming that official statistics aren’t neutral “"Diese Daten dürfen nicht mit der tatsächlichen Kriminalitätsentwicklung gleichgesetzt werden. Sie lassen auch keine vergleichende Bewertung der Kriminalitätsbelastung von Deutschen und Nichtdeutschen zu." With all these caveats we take a look at the official police statistics on crime (Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik 2019, vol. 3, Tatverdächtige). It is based is based upon a registration of the number suspects, divided into German and non-German categories. For each of two groups, the data show first their respective total involvement in crime and secondly their involvement in categories of crime. The total number of suspects involved in crime for 2019:  The calculated proportion of non-Germans of the total population in Germany is around 12.5% according to Statista. Comparing the percentages showing the involvement in crime for Germans and non-Germans with their share of the population, indicates a very significant overrepresentation of non-Germans in crime. This picture is confirmed when looking at some of the more serious crime categories, like Murderor manslaughter (Mord…), Rape etc. (Vergewaltigung…), Robbery (Raubdelikte), GBH (gefährliche und schwere Körperverletzung …) as seen the table below. TV or Tatverdächtige are crime suspects :  Between 36,8% and 39.7% of those suspected of serious crimes are found to be non-Germans. A simple comparison with their share of the overall population show that non-Germans are around 3 times more frequently involved in serious crime than those categorized as Germans. Even with all sorts of reservations in relation to the methodological issues in the statistical data used here, this at the very least indicate a very serious overrepresentation of non-Germans in serious crime. This may help us understand why the German population in general are feeling less secure, even though officialdom and media prefer to talk about the overall reductions in the number of crimes. The publication “Kriminalität – Migration und Straftaten” from 2019 (by Feld et al.) contains a visual representation of the over and under representation of Germans, non-Germans and asylum seekers in different categories of crime:  Note the overrepresentation of non-Germans and asylum seekers in categories like crimes against life (Straftaten gegen das leben), and sexual assaults (Straftaten gegen die sexuelle Selbstbestimmung). What we have seen here is clear evidence of the overrepresentation of non-Germans and asylum seekers in serious crime. This certainly warrants some form of extra police attention including some form of profiling in relation to ethnic groups, who presumably will stand out due to their ethnicity. What would be the alternative, ignoring statistics, ignoring relevant knowledge, and act as if non-Germans and asylum seekers were no more criminal than Germans, and thus deserving no special attention? There are those who again argue there are all sorts of explanations for the overrepresentation in crime. Like the miserable backgrounds, traumatic experiences, cultural habits, and lower than usual socio-economic status of non-western refugees and migrants. Thus pointing to the possibility that overrepresentation would disappear, if we took into account age structure, socio-economic and other factors, and implying that Germans in the same age group and of similar socio-economic status might be just as criminal. This may perhaps explain some the overrepresentation, but this does not alter the fact that the overrepresentation in serious crime is a serious problem that cannot be ignored by being excused. Once more we see that there might be very good reasons for the extra police attention that may include ethnical profiling. Critics would still argue that the majority of non-Germans and asylum seekers are not involved in serious crime, and that police attention and profiling might thus be unfair and unlawful in relation human rights. But what would happen if police did not focus upon these groups, and did not use some form of profiling or turned a blind eye to the connection between crime and certain ethnic groups, either because of fear for being accused of racism or because they weren’t allowed or use profiling? An example from the UK show the scary consequences Looking away to avoid accusations of racism In 2011 The Times asserted that culture of silence had for years facilitated “the sexual exploitation of hundreds of young girls by criminal pimping gangs” at places all over England. The most notorious place perhaps being the Southern Yorkshire town of Rotherham. The paper claimed that the young victims were mainly white, and that they been had been groomed and exploited by men from an ethnic Pakistani minority. In Rotherham alone, the National Crime Agency’s special investigation “Operation Stovewood” later concluded that number of children that had been subject to sexual exploitation from 1990s and up until the scandal exploded reached 1,510. The operation also found that there had been at least 110 offenders and that 80% of those were of Pakistani heritage. While the Pakistani share of the population of Rotherham only amount to around 3%. As a result of the outside intervention, a smaller number of the men were convicted and were to be extradited, but apparently this has not yet happened. When this scandal and others of the same nature first became public, they were followed by denials, but the “Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham” from 2013 could only confirm the scale of the scandal. The white victims and predominantly Pakistani ethnicity of the offenders, raised the serious question of why the exploitation had gone uninvestigated given the timescale and the numbers involved. Had the ethnicity of offenders made childcare authorities and police look away for fear of being accused of racism? A report from an Inspection of the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (The Casey Report) seems to confirm that the issue of white victims and Pakistani offenders played an important role in the playing down and denials of the scandal. ““[My] experience of council as it was and is – Asian men very powerful, and the white British are very mindful of racism and frightened of racism allegations so there is no robust challenge. They had massive influence in the town. For example, I know all the backgrounds to the Asian Councillors... but don’t know anything about white Members. Not about race only but the power and influence – the family links in those communities are still very strong. Definitely an issue of race.” (A current officer quoted in the Casey report). “The number one priority was to preserve and enhance the [Pakistani heritage] community – which wasn’t an unworthy goal but it wasn’t right at the time. It was difficult to stand up in a meeting and say that the perpetrators were from the Pakistani Heritage community and were using the taxi system - even though everyone knew it.” (A former key partner quoted in the Casey report). The reference to the taxi systems refers to the stories of the young victims being picked up by taxis outside the school gates. Front line personal in the social care sector were told to downplay their concerns. Telling is The Times report about the experience of a victim’s father trying to contact to the police. The officers answering the father’s call referred to the grooming as “Paki shagging” and apparently told that “with it being Asians we can’t afford for this to be coming out as Rotherham would erupt.” One councillor even sees the Pakistani offenders as victims: “The girls, the way they dress, they don’t look 14-15 years old, the way they make up – they look more adult. They go into clubs, get served in bars, It’s very difficult for me, very modern dress... They have been fooled definitely [men in Asian Community]. The British Asians. If you have identified so many perpetrators, why have there been so little arrests? They feel British Asians have been hit by Jay.” (Councillor quoted in the Casey report). What see se here is evidence that authorities like the Borough Council and ranking police officers looking away from serious crimes committed by male members of the ethnic Pakistani minority in Rotherham, in order to avoid being accused of prejudice and racism. In the reports of the scandal there is also talk of a concern we have seen raised in Sweden and Germany. That the revelation that the offenders were Pakistani and the victims young Whites would play into the hands of racists. “The background threat of the BNP (British National Party) or EDL (English Defence League) exploiting the problems in Rotherham for their own divisive ends may have been a rationale for not talking about the ‘race issue’ openly. But in fact this made it worse. Even if at some point, by some people, this was well intentioned, it has not served any positive purpose at all. It has in effect suppressed a problem that should be dealt with openly and properly.” (Casey Report). Looking away for fear of stirring up racial hatred was thus seriously hampering the efforts to investigate and prosecute these serious offences. Instead of avoiding stirring up racial hatred by looking away it have contributed to it . Trying to ignore the facts that some ethnic minorities is more often involved in crime than the majority population, by not collecting the data that may show this to be the case or, in the case of Rotherham, knowingly looking away from crimes committed mainly by males from an ethnic minority, may raise invisible barriers to the work of police. Showing that looking away in the misguided attempt to protect an ethnic minority may be a much more serious problem, than the attempt to prevent and investigate crimes through the use of discriminatory profiling. It may make the relation between the majority population and ethnic minority groups even more problematic and will lead to distrust in authorities and police. Looking away isn’t the only issue in relation crimes committed by members of an ethnic minority. There is a growing awareness of instances of criminal “self-regulation” or self-administered justice in certain ethnic communities. Dominating families, or in Muslim communities, imams may meter out justice arbitrarily in relation to crimes that ought to be the preserve of police and the legal systems. “They become active in conflicts between Muslims and mediate between the parties. It is not just about disputes between or within families or disputes over inheritance or money. The arbitrary arbitrators also take care of serious bodily harm, threats, violence and property crimes” (DW). Creating a perverse system of parallel underground justice, that does not show up in official statistics, thus underestimating crimes committed by members of these communities. In some cases police even tries to involve the apparatus of this parallel justice, when trying to solve conflicts within the ethnic communities. Thereby giving parallel justice a kind of official recognition. Leading one wonder if this isn’t fundamentally incompatible with criminal procedure law. The contra-productive effect of condemning racial profiling The yells of “Black Lives Matter” protesters and the accusations of police racism and racial/ethics profiling may have a strange counterproductive effect on the relation between the justice system and police on the one side and the black lives and ethnic minorities on the other side. If you are Black you may feel that the protests and the video clips of police brutality against Blacks confirm you in the conviction that you are only stopped and searched or even arrested and prosecuted because you are Black. How may this conviction influence your reaction when you are confronted by police, for whatever reason? Might it not lead more rapidly to a confrontative stance towards the police? Perhaps even leading to you to resist arrest by any means possible? While the resulting actions by the police will be seen as confirmation of the accusations of racism and profiling. Is that perhaps what happened in the case of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Apparently, he resisted arrest, wasn’t subdued by a taser, and tried get away from the police, leading to the seemingly brutal overreaction by a policeman, who shot him in the back when he tried to enter his car. Or take the example mentioned earlier of the strongly built 15 years old black boy stopped by police in Hamburg for violating e-scooter regulation, who had to be subdued by several policemen. In both cases, why did they resist arrest? It may seem irrational even if they were innocent? Could it be that the actions by the BLM movement actually lead to more serious confrontations between police and members of the Black minority? With Blacks tending to see every action against them by police as confirmation that they are subject to police racism, and thus have right to protest and resist? If we are right in our assumptions this would be likely to lead to an escalation of confrontations between police and Blacks. If this happens one would of course see more evidence of what might be seen as police brutality, contributing to a vicious spiral of eye-catching prejudice and animosity between Black perpetrators and police, leading an escalation of accusations of brutality and racism. Perhaps also explaining an expanding list of “Fuck tha Police” Pop Rock, Hip Hop songs or rap against police brutality and racism, like 2 Pac’s “Trapped.” There are others reasons for expecting an escalation in the number of confrontations, not only related to Blacks. Criminal gangs and clans confronting police and the judicial system In 2016 Swedish police listed 55 urban areas in which criminal networks had a major influence. The areas apparently represented a kind of no go zones where even fire engines and ambulances would have to be accompanied by police. Parallel societies developing in these areas resulting in a growing degree of internal justice and control. (NRK 2016) A recent incident may highlight what this means. Sweden’s TV 4 documented a confrontation between two policemen who had stopped a Moped driver in Angered, a problem suburb to Gothenborg, and several young members of a criminal gang. The non-western gang members demand the release the moped driver, threatening the policemen: “Put the baton away or I'll drive it up in you."  Similar confrontations and threats have led to a demand for total anonymity from policemen, in order to make it more difficult after police actions to threaten policemen and their families.
Journalistic research indicates that the whole suburb of Angered has been controlled by members of non-western clan during the past ten years. (“Så kontrollerar familjen en hel förort,” Aftonbladet). Showing how police may have partly lost control of certain areas in Sweden. Perhaps what we see is a reality quite opposite to what recent protests against police racism and brutality in the US and Europa would indicate. That police in certain parts of Europe are giving in to threats from criminal gangs with non-western background? Signs are emerging that police and officialdom is becoming scared, fearing the violence of criminal gangs belonging to ethnic minorities and dominating criminal clans. A German position paper on clans and crimes state that in the most populous federals state, Nordrhein-Westfalen, “the Arab-Lebanese large families in the individual cities affected consists of several hundred people according to analyzes of their names in a total of around 100 families. The crimes range from human trafficking to drug-related crime to extortion of protection money. In addition, members of Lebanese family clans are not only committing crimes but are also occupying public space, frequently lacking respect for the police and rescue services, showing aggressive behavior in the context of tumults and developing parallel societies and a parallel justice. Individual members of such family clans are scientifically proven to be significantly more likely to be criminals.” (BDK, Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter 2019). A few days ago the Deputy National Police Chief in Sweden revealed: “Right now, there are just over 40 family-based networks, clans, that have come to Sweden solely to organize crime. They have great power, great capital of violence and make money from drugs, violence and extortion. They also enter the business world and political life to try to control a municipality, or even Sweden.” Note the last sentence. In the original Swedish “försöka styra en kommun, eller till och med Sverige.” Clans taking control of municipality? In Lower Saxony the minister of the interior, Boris Pistorius, warned of similar developments: “Criminal clan members are violent, they threaten their competition just like members of the police. Members of all criminal clans in Lower Saxony act with an excessive sense of honor and great disrespect, they disregard rules and laws. They threaten our constitutional state and our free and democratic society. They accept our legal system just as little as they do representatives of the constitutional state, the local regulations and the regulatory authorities.” (Pistorius). He argued that that state would have act against these clans repressively and immediately with everything that is available to it, especially in the police repertoire! " In defence of unequal treatment Looking at the data from other ethnic groups it can be argued that the overrepresentation especially in relation to serious crime warrants the extra attention that ethic profiling represents. The existing amount of profiling may not even be proportional to the respective ethnic group’s share in serious crime. To those who criticise discriminatory profiling as evidence of racial and ethnic prejudice in the police force, one might argue that police could be accused of dereliction of duty, if they just stopped and searched people in proportion the overall share of the population. This would also represent a kind of inverse ethnic profiling, ignoring existing information. It would be grossly inefficient, and presumably lead to even more crime. It is worth remembering the human rights of those who may be become victims of crime, their right to live in safety. “Crimes constitute violations of their rights as well as acts against society or the state.” One wonders if the prohibition of any kind of profiling would really be in the best interest of the ethnic groups. At least for Blacks, data from the US and UK show that violent crimes against Blacks (like London knife crimes) are mostly committed by Blacks against Blacks. Meaning that Black people are mostly in danger of being victims of violent crimes from Black people. Which certainly doesn’t point to White racism, but perhaps to serious problems within the communities of Black people in the US. Leading us once more to ask the provocative question: “Do Black lives really matter to Black people themselves? Is ethnic profiling in fact a necessary evil to help combat crimes committed by Blacks on Blacks? Present day BLM protesters and activist may be right to criticise police brutality, as we have shown in an earlier essay (“Police brutality and racism – Where protesters have got it all wrong”), but they may also be doing Black lives a colossal disservice by demanding that police focus less on Blacks. The risk of being accused of racism may result in authorities and police looking away instead of investigating, when faced with information that crimes may be have committed by members of ethnic minorities, as we saw in the scandalous case of Rotherham. A kind of bizarre invers prejudice caused by fear of being seen as prejudiced would play into the hands of those who show real racial and ethnical prejudice. It certainly ought to be enough to point to the Rotherham scandal to realise the terrible consequences of such a tacit policy of invers prejudice. Recently the Guardian pointed to a possible discriminatory “use [of] software that can be deployed to see if ethnic groups 'specialise' in areas of crime” (The Guardian, 27 July 2020). But perhaps we need such discriminatory approach and the accompanying software, when members of certain ethnic groups for some reason are more frequently involved in certain types of crime. Be it the grooming of young children, perhaps related to a male dominated ethnic culture, knife crime related perhaps to dealing in drugs, or the spiderweb of clan related crimes. Discriminating penalties? Perhaps one ought even to discuss the awkward and heretical questions of discriminatory treatment of perpetrators, observing the rise in serious crime attributed to members of certain ethnic groups. In fact, one already finds elements such discriminatory in practice. It may not be overtly discriminatory, but in practice this may the consequence. In 2019 The Danish Government published proposals meant to combat and prevent the creation of parallel societies in certain urban areas with a high proportion of minority ethnic groups (in general non-western migrants and their descendants). One of the proposals contained a scheme meant to combat crime: “A scheme that allows the police to identify special crime and insecurity-affected areas, where the penalty for certain forms of crime for a period is significantly increased (increased penalty zone).” Although it was argued that such a scheme would be represent discrimination of ethnic minorities, the scheme was later passed into law by The Danish Parliament. The relevant part of the law states that “The penalty prescribed in this Act may be doubled if the offense is committed within a stricter penalty zone designated pursuant to section 6 a of the Police Act.” In essence doubling the penalty for crimes committed within areas to be designated for a limited time by the police as a result of increases in crime. Whether such initiatives will a have positive effect remains to be seen. But it may indicate the there is growing realisation that the overrepresentation in serious crime by members of certain ethnic minority groups, calls for discriminatory measures specially designed to combat crime committed by members of these ethnic groups. Human activists and leftist parties may howl and wail. A member of the Danish think tank Justitia voiced the criticism: “In reality, this will mean that young people who live in those areas, and who may not be more criminal than other young people, will be punished twice as severely. It is un-Danish and legally questionable.” The Danish government saw it differently and in fact argued that carrying out this scheme was necessary to preserve Danishness. Prime minister Lars Løkke arguing: “Danishness itself is threatened, and therefore it is necessary to do away with the idea that everyone in Denmark should be treated equally” (Information). Formally the new law may only discriminate against people living in certain urban residential areas, and not directly against the ethnic groups overrepresented in crime statistics, leading to the assertion that it not discriminatory, which of course it is. To avoid doubling the penalty criminals just have carry out their crimes outside the designated area. One therefore wonders if it will be necessary to act with more direct discrimination, based upon the type of crime committed, the status of the perpetrators, if they asylum seekers, migrants without citizenship in the country, or some other characteristic. Then there is the problem of whether groups like criminal gangs and clans from certain minorities regard the penalties metered out as not very frightening, in their view even as slightly ridiculous? Perhaps warranting another kind of discrimination whereby they may be sentenced to carry out a prison sentence in a prison in their home country, if possible, or be extradited? Protests missing the point and systems not fit for purpose Having seen the overrepresentation of certain ethics groups in especially in relation to serious crime, we may conclude that there is actually very good reason for police to use some form of discriminatory profiling, in order to concentrate efforts on areas and groups where the perpetrators are actually found. Instead of trying to avoid accusations of racism by for instance by doing stops and searches of ethics groups only in direct proportion to their share of the population. Disregarding relevant crime statistics and unnessarily harassing members of other groups underrepresented in crime. Critics may point to fact that even if the crime rates for certain ethnic groups are higher, it is also a fact the majority are not involved in crime, even if for example 5.7% of an age group are involved, the majority 94.3% are not (at least as far as statistics go). The majority may of course feel that it is unfair, or unlawful, to be subject the extra attention as a consequence of the higher rate of crime among members of their ethnic group. That this might lead to animosity is to be expected, but as we have seen, if police look away for fear of creating animosity, it may to a kind of invers discrimination, making efforts to combat crime less efficient. Even more important, it might ultimately be the interest of an ethnic minority to accept the extra scrutiny as a necessary evil in order to combat crime in their midst, as we have seen in relation Black on Black crimes in the US and in UK. In fact they may often be victims of crimes committed by members of their own ethnic group. It is perhaps worth remembering the fact that 70.3 % of the violent incidents committed against Black victims in the US are committed by Blacks. A proportion more than 5 times higher than their share of the population. Perhaps police scrutiny and profiling is not their greatest problem. This is a serious point that the unarticulated and violent protests against the police and the judicial system conveniently avoid. BLM protesters and human rights activists are too busy yelling their simplified slogans and spraying protest graffiti to really see what is going on. Appeals to human rights and proportional equality in treatment, may in fact result in the opposite of what they want to achieve. They may contribute to serious conflicts within society, that may cause the whole idea of society to break down. While protests and human rights appeals may be missing the point, it be even more serious that existing ideas of human rights, policing and judicial system may no longer be fit for purpose. We are moving onto thin ice there, questioning some of the fundamental values and characteristics of the system found in Western countries, but it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the relative recent growth in the number of migrants and refugees and their descendants, especially of non-western origin, have put a serious strain on the existing systems. Non-western Ethnic groups used to seeing the system in their homelands as unfair and corrupt, used to a kind violence not seen the modern Western societies, used to very different concepts of justice, suspicious of those who are metering out justice, and immersed in an ingrained culture very different from their new Western homelands, represent a serious challenge for Western conception of human rights, the police and the judicial system. Ethnic groups may persevere in their different conception of justice, seeing so-called “honour killings” as excusable offences, seeking justice in revenge attacks, or continue to appeal to their own internal justice regimes in conflict with the legal system. Big families and clans may act as inscrutable barriers to the police investigation and the judicial systems when crimes are committed by members of the families or clans. We have seen how difficult it may be to combat criminal clans in countries like Sweden and Germany. Our ideas and systems may for these reasons no longer fit for purpose, and we are seeing signs that this is finally realised openly. Perhaps most clearly in the somewhat simplistic argument by the former Danish prime minster, Lars Løkke: “Danishness itself is threatened, and therefore it is necessary to do away with the idea that everyone in Denmark should be treated equally.” Perhaps this is in fact necessary in order for make the system fit for purpose again. Perhaps it also indicates that this may in the future include more restrictive policies with regard to migration from some none-western cultures, in order to preserve existing, hard won Western ideals of human rights and equal treatment as intact as possible and avoid ethnic conflicts. See also these essays: Police brutality and racism – Where protesters have got it all wrong https://wahrnehmungen.weebly.com/blog/police-brutality-and-racism-where-protesters-have-got-it-all-wrong Refugee crime rates – cause for alarm? The case of Germany https://wahrnehmungen.weebly.com/blog/refugee-crime-rates-cause-for-alarm-the-case-of-germany Radical demographic changes: a threat to an ageing continent? https://wahrnehmungen.weebly.com/blog/category/demographic-change Higher crime rates for immigrants and refugees? – Opinions and numbers https://wahrnehmungen.weebly.com/blog/-higher-crime-rates-for-immigrants-and-refugees-opinions-and-numbers |
