NaDiRa short study: Racism in the police force

Institutional racism in the police - racist 'knowledge' and its use

National Monitoring of Discrimination and Racism (NaDiRa)

Project team:

• Alexandra Graevskaia
• Tim Handick

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Project description:

The project investigates institutional racism in the police. In particular, we analysed what role racist 'knowledge' plays in police work. The focus was on the following questions:

What racist 'knowledge' is seen as useful for police work?
Which police-specific conditions lead to a recourse to racist 'knowledge'?
What means are used to try to reduce racism in the police?

Results:

In order to reduce the uncertainty of expectations in their everyday work, police officers also classify people on the basis of their external appearance. In doing so, they draw on widespread racist ideas.

Police officers also have a 'knowledge' about the (supposed) culture and nationality of people who are read as migrants, which they use in their work. This knowledge is partly conveyed to them as 'intercultural competence' or passed on as 'experiential knowledge' among colleagues. Through this body of knowledge, police officers (re)produce racist discourses - even unintentionally. This is sometimes also done by police officers who support migration-related diversity (in the police) and people with their own or family migration experience.

Random checks encourage racial profiling. If certain people are checked more often compared to the rest of the population, more 'hits' can be achieved in this group due to the above-average checks. These then flow into the crime statistics and form the basis for future controls.

Surprising insights:

Racism is hardly ever mentioned in the police. Instead, our interview partners used terms like "prejudices" or "reservations", which indicate that they only see racism as an individual problem. When the police try to limit the (re)production of racism, they rely on individual police officers to change - while structural changes in the agency are mostly absent. However, police officers who approach their work reflectively cannot overcome established structures and routines through their own critical stance towards racism alone. This result makes it clear that institutional racism and institutional discrimination must be taken into account. 

Significance for practice:

The research findings provide a basis for initiating changes in the police, especially with regard to further training on 'intercultural competence', the police authorities themselves and legislation:

Workshops and modules on 'intercultural competence' should be revised so that they are not primarily about imparting 'knowledge' about 'others'. Instead, they should also address social power relations and reveal racist assumptions among participants.
Supervision and regular systematic follow-up of interventions should be integrated into the daily work so that experiences are not passed on without reflection and sustainable changes are possible.
Certain public spaces should no longer be classified as "dangerous" or "crime-ridden". This is because the random checks that the police are entitled to carry out in such places encourage racial profiling.

Short studies in preparation for the Racism Monitor:

In order to prepare a comprehensive racism monitor, DeZIM called on researchers from the DeZIM research community in 2020 to develop innovative study ideas. These should extend existing research projects, pursue new and innovative approaches or build an infrastructure to research racism. By 2021, more than 120 researchers at the six locations of the DeZIM research community had conducted a total of 34 short studies. These are divided into six thematic priorities:

• Health system
• Education system and labour market
• Institutional racism
• Dealing with experiences of racism
• Participation and the media
• Racist ideologies and attitudes

Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Third-party funding)