Feature
Media Release: Expansion of designate areas will increase racial profiling.
The Centre Against Racial Profiling (CARP) warns that the proposed expansions to police search powers will amplify existing racial profiling practices by Victoria Police, based on comprehensive analysis of police search data.
Recent research reveals systemic racial disparities in current police search practices: - People police perceive as Aboriginal are eleven times more likely to be searched than White people - People police perceive as African are eight times more likely to be searched - People police perceive as Middle Eastern are five times more likely to be searched - The majority of racialised peoples are consistently searched with less reasonable grounds, as evidenced by their lower "hit rates" for finding reported items
"The data clearly shows that expanded search powers will disproportionately impact already over-policed communities," said Dr Tamar Hopkins, of the CARP. "Giving police more discretion to conduct searches, with less oversight and longer search periods, risks amplifying these documented patterns of racial profiling."
The proposed legislation would allow police to: - Declare designated search areas based on intelligence suggesting potential violence - Extend the duration of search periods from 12 to 24 hours - Reduce the minimum required period between declarations and enforcing a designated area notice from 10 days to 12 hours - Remove requirements for public notice in newspapers
Analysis of current search practices shows that when police search people they perceive as African, Middle Eastern/Mediterranean, Indian and Asian, they are consistently less likely to find reported items compared to searches of people they perceive as White, indicating searches are being conducted with less reasonable grounds. The expansion of search powers and designated area provisions will increase the likelihood of racialised peoples being exposed to unreasonable searches, with the guise of designated areas.
CARP holds particular concerns about the use of police intelligence to justify designated areas based on the suggested likelihood of violence, as this risks amplifying already-existing biases in police decision-making.
"Our research shows specific police units already target entire communities based on the alleged actions of individuals. For example, in 2023, some units of Victoria Police conducted over 40% of their searches on people they perceived to be Middle Eastern or African, with very low hit rates. The proposed legislation will increase the risk that racialised communities will be caught in what amounts to a dragnet approach."
"Police are looking for excuses to target our communities, and rather than finding a reasonable suspicion, they want a blanket power to search everyone in our community" said Ilo Diaz, from CARP.
"When police get more search powers, we know exactly who they target, the evidence shows these powers are used against us disproportionately. We must not give police more powers to harm us."