The state of racial profiling in Germany

This summer, a 17-year-old boy was shot to death by police during a traffic stop in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre. Nationwide protests against racist police violence in France followed. A United Nations committee then called on the French government to take action against racial profiling by law enforcement.

The case in Nanterre, much like the death of George Floyd at the hands of US police in 2020, has put the global spotlight back on institutionalized racism and police violence. Germany has also had its own controversial cases of police brutality, such as the 2005 death of asylum seeker Oury Jalloh in police custody, or the shooting of a 16-year-old refugee in Dortmund last summer.

But how exactly is racial profiling defined? Simply put, racial profiling is when people are stopped by the police or other authorities on the basis of their skin color or other ethnic or religious features. Such action can include identity checks, questioning, surveillance, searches or even arrests that are not based on concrete suspicion, but solely on external characteristics. This is considered to be discriminatory because it places various societal groups under general suspicion.

How often does racial profiling occur?

Targeted groups and NGOs regularly report racial profiling during police checks. "We're not just talking about individual cases here," Hendrik Cremer, a lawyer and research associate at the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR), told DW. Nevertheless, empirical assertions about the phenomenon are difficult to make — at least in Germany — because little data is available, he says.

Figures from a 2017 French study show that young men perceived as Black or Arab are 20 times more likely to be stopped for identity checks in France than the rest of the population. In the US, 41% of Black Americans say they have been stopped or detained by police because of their ethnicity.

While some smaller studies have been done, a study to learn more about racial profiling nationwide is currently underway at the German Police University. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) defended police this April, saying: "Our police officers deserve all the support and respect they can get. They are on duty day and night under difficult, sometimes life-threatening conditions — and they defend the rule of law and democracy." But she also insisted that the emergence and consolidation of prejudice should be countered more consistently.

How is racial profiling addressed by the law?

The legal situation when it comes to racial profiling varies from country to country. It starts with the question of how the phenomenon is legally defined. US and UK courts, for example, recognize the practice as a problem. In some US states, such as Texas, racial profiling is legally defined and explicitly prohibited.

Not so in Germany, however. While unprovoked checks on people based solely on their appearance violate the country's Basic Law, police laws at the federal and state level still open up some room to maneuver.

"Especially in the case of the federal police, the legal basis is problematic. The federal police are authorized in certain places, such as trains, airports and train stations, to check people without cause," Cremer told DW. "But the purpose is to check whether people are in Germany illegally." This makes it likely that police will select whom they check based on physical characteristics such as skin color, he said.

The law can be twisted to justify such practices: Say that a train is full of white passengers, with the exception of one person. And only the non-white person is checked. In practice, the police might then point out that they checked the person because they were also carrying a potentially suspicious suitcase. By adding another factor aside from appearance, no racial profiling could have occurred, according to the German government.

Cremer said that this should not be the case. "The laws as they are at the moment lead to such checks happening again and again. And people then fear being checked repeatedly and thus being publicly stigmatized," he says.

What are the consequences of racial profiling?

Racial profiling can have far-reaching consequences for those who are targeted. Belonging to a population group under general suspicion gives rise to feelings of humiliation, alienation and mistrust. It can also trigger psychological and physical stress.

This can reduce the willingness to cooperate with police, who may in turn mishandle certain cases in response.

How can Germany prevent racial profiling?

One strategy to prevent racial profiling is hiring a more diverse police force and strengthening their intercultural competence. But some research shows that this inadequately addresses structural problems. "In the education and training of police officers, it needs to be more strongly communicated just what exactly the ban on racial discrimination entails and to what extent it sets barriers to police work," Cremer said.

Responsibility for this lies not only with the police, but also with the legislature. Racial profiling is particularly prevalent where police lack concrete legal guidelines.

Further measures to counteract racial profiling could include setting up independent bodies to process complaints, required documentation by police about the background of individuals they stop, and educating the general population in how to recognize and counter this form of racism.

In May, Interior Minister Faeser announced a draft law for the "modernization" of federal police laws, including increased transparency and tougher screening to prevent extremists from taking up the badge. While it doesn't specifically mention racial profiling, with reference to border controls it says that new wording "serves to clarify that any kind of discrimination will not be tolerated in the federal police," and that in accordance with the Basic Law, they must exercise "discretion both with regard to the selection of a person and with regard to the execution of the measures … to prevent or stop unauthorized entry into the federal territory."

Should the law be passed by the Bundesrat, Germany's second house of parliament, then officers would also be required to document their reasoning for conducting a stop.

This article originally appeared in German.

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