The police’s work in connection with profiling and equal treatment

With a focus on discriminatory and ethnic profiling. English summary of Brå report 2023:12

This report presents the results of Brå’s study on the police’s work in connection with profiling and equal treatment. The study stems from the Swedish Police Authority’s request for an independent party to investigate what this work looks like at different levels within the organisation. The aim of the report is to contribute towards the Authority’s development work within this area.

This is a complex subject to study. To address the questions in the study, Brå has therefore used several different types of data and methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative. One important contribution is the large number of interviews and conversations held with managers at different levels within the organisation, and with police officers on patrol duty. Significant parts of the report are thus based on what employees at both strategic and operational levels deem to be important in the work in connection with profiling and equal treatment.

The study has a particular focus on discriminatory ethnic profiling, which involves the police relying solely or primarily on an individual’s ethnic origin when assessing who they check or suspect of crimes. The profiling work examined in this study mainly relates to suspected drug offences. This is a typical search and intervention offence in which the police have a relatively wide scope for action.