(en) France, Alternative Libertaire AL #235 - Police checks: Offense facies, denial of promise (fr, pt)

Among the promises of Holland, one of which was to set up a receipt for identity check. 
But like other, since it has been stored. A group mobilizes to stop the unfair practices 
of the state. ---- With the promise of the receipt of identity checks, the idea was that 
the police officer that controls a person to produce an official document indicating the 
date, time and reason for the check, the name of the officer and ethnicity and / or 
nationality of the person being checked. A few weeks after the presidential election, 
Ayrault announced the imminent introduction of the famous receipt. ---- Unfulfilled 
promise ---- But in September of the same year Valls bury the proposal, claiming placement 
too complicated, cumbersome administrative procedures and the risk of seeing fake 
receipts. Sure, from this perspective, the project appears to be impossible to implement. 
As the saying goes, " the bad workman always bad tools. "

A study conducted in Paris by the Open Society Justice and two researchers from the CNRS 
in 2007, shows that identity checks are based on the appearance of individuals. Data on 
the origin, age, sex, dress style, the type of bags worn were collected over five hundred 
controls at five locations (in and around the Gare du Nord and Ch?telet -Les Halles). The 
results are unfortunately no surprise. People perceived as "Arabs" were between 1.8 and 
14.8 times more likely to be stopped than whites. For people perceived black is between 
3.3 and 11.5 times more. The dress style also has a strong influence on the behavior of 
police officers. People with a "young urban" style, although they represent only 10% 
controllable, appeared in 47% of controls identified.

Target Testing

Four years later the Collective against ethnic profiling [ 1 ] composed of different 
associations born. His approach is to show that the system has in raising awareness about 
abusive controls and promoting reform of the law that frames. According to Article 78.2 of 
the Code of Criminal Procedure a police officer can control a person if he considers that 
he has committed or attempted to commit an offense, is preparing to commit a felony or a 
misdemeanor; been research court. Also at the request of the prosecutor, as part of an 
investigation into a specific offense but in places and times determined by the 
requisition. Also according to this article, any person, regardless of their behavior can 
be controlled in a "preventive" to ensure public order but again only in times and places 
determined by a judicial authority. Controls "routine" are outlawed. In early October, 
thirteen plaintiffs claiming to be victims of ethnic profiling and had filed a complaint 
against the state were rejected by the tribunal de grande instance of Paris. What seems 
incredible is that according to justice, it is the plaintiffs to prove that the control 
was discriminatory, and that even if that were the case it would not be serious enough to 
engage the responsibility of the State. It is time that the snake keeps biting the tail 
and it must militate again and again for the receipt of identity check.

Greg (AL Seine-Saint-Denis)

[ 1 ] See stoplecontroleaufacies.fr