COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON POLICING RACIST CRIME AND VIOLENCE

1
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON POLICING RACIST CRIME AND
VIOLENCE
Dr Robin Oakley Independent Consultant
2
CONTEXT

• Follows Report on Racist Violence in the EU15
• Focuses specifically on response of police (EU25)

3
METHODOLOGY

• Rapid Response Survey
• October 2004
• Short questionnaire
• National Focal Points (NFPs)
• Twenty five Member States
• Respond within fourteen days
• Provides snapshot overview

4
SCOPE

• police recording practices for racist crimes
• responsibility for establishing racial motivation
• police responses to victims of racist crimes
• training provision for the police to respond to
  racist crimes
• police engagement with civil society

5
MAIN FINDING

• In the majority of Member States police responses
  
• to racist crime and violence require further
• development to make them effective.

6
SPECIFIC FINDINGS

• Approaches differ widely between Member States
• A minority show examples of good practice
• Often only specific or local-level initiatives
• General lack of comprehensive policing response
  to racist violence
• UK shows the most comprehensive policing approach
• France, Germany and Sweden also show serious
  commitment

7
SPECIFIC FINDINGS (continued)

• No provision for recording racial motivation in
  crime generally in most States
• Information on ethnicity of victims/offenders
  rarely recorded
• Support for victims of racist crime needs to be
  strengthened
• Few states had specialist training in place
• Many initiatives just address multiculturalism
  and racism generally
• Police engagement with civil society needs to be
  further developed

8
ACTIONS AT MEMBER STATE LEVEL

• Need for adequate legal and policy framework
• Police leadership to show commitment
• Requirement on police to record racial
  motivation in crime
• Statistical analysis of all racially-motivated
  crime
• Procedural guidance for police on response to
  racist crime
• Specialist training to be provided, with input
  from NGOs
• Specialist posts to be established at
  national/local levels
• Mechanisms to encourage/facilitate reporting of
  racist crime

9
ACTIONS AT E.U. LEVEL

• Need for further in-depth research on policing
  responses
• Urgent need for comparative victim survey across
  Member States
• Legislation to require Member States to have
  adequate law on racist crime
• Should include requirement on police to record
  racial motivation
• Funded programme to support strengthening of
  police response
• To include support for NGO participation
• Transnational events to exchange
  experience/promote good practice
• Actions to be coordinated with work of other
  international bodies

10
Thank you for your attention