One may also expect to see over-representation right across the African-Australian diaspora if profiling was both rampant and regularly pulling kids into the justice-system. If police profiling of African-Australian young people is pervasive, one might have expected public order and drug offences to climb during a period of intense media coverage, given that such crimes generally involve more police discretion.Īfrican (predominantly South Sudanese) youth comprise at least 19 per cent of young people in custody despite being less than 0.5 per cent of Victoria's youth population. In contrast, rates for less serious crimes, such as public order and drug offences, have remained stable and relatively low for South Sudanese-born youth. They're also crimes that tend to receive custodial sentences. Higher rates of African-Australian youth imprisonment are most likely because of an increase in violent criminal activity by some members that group.Ī recent study pointed to the significantly higher rate of 'crimes against the person' by South Sudanese-born youth compared to Australian-born youth between 20.Ĭrimes against the person include serious offences such as robbery and assault, which often involve less police discretion. So what is behind the over-incarceration? There is always room for improvement to ensure that people are treated with dignity and that procedural fairness is adhered to.īut it's unlikely police services have the explicit intention to disfavour particular cultural groups.įor the most part, police are reacting to information given to them by the public. Police behaviour can also stigmatise, even if it is unintended.Ī young person who is publicly stopped and questioned on the street as part of routine police activity may feel singled out and humiliated. This can lead to feeling devalued and hyper-vigilant when they encounter law enforcement, and for some a justifiable sense of frustration.įor people who are regularly breaking the law, police attention is expected and should not come as a surprise.īut there are occasional incidents of overzealous policing, and perhaps isolated incidents of profiling. While the sample sizes of these reports are small, the concerns raised by the participants are similar to those expressed in the 2012 lawsuit.įor some African-Australian youth, perceptions of police are often an extension of how they see society at large treating them.Īfter all, if someone has experienced racism in the broader community, they can develop a sense of being rejected by society. In a number of recent community surveys, African-Australian youth say they're being targeted and harassed by police in public places because of their race. It also alleges a systemic bias of the sort that led to that 2012 discrimination complaint.

If racialised policing tactics are implicated, or even partly implicated, in rising African-Australian offending rates in Victoria, then this would be a gross violation of procedural fairness for a vulnerable population. These incidents received extensive media attention - with some outlets criticised for politicising their coverage and demonising the African-Australian community.įor some commentators and community advocates, racial profiling was a factor in this sequence of offending, and the coinciding spike in African-Australian youth imprisonment - which has now reached concerning levels. Just three years later, the notion of racial profiling by Victoria Police was again thrust into the public sphere.īetween 20 a small number of African-Australian youth were involved in a number of highly publicised offences. The case was eventually settled in 2013 with Victoria Police agreeing to review its practices with migrant communities. In 2012, a number of young African-Australians lodged a complaint of racial discrimination against Victoria Police, alleging they'd been subject to ongoing racial profiling in the Melbourne suburbs of Flemington and North Melbourne between 20. African-Australian youth say in surveys they're being targeted by police because of their race.

South africa prisoners by racr