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Does Danish law currently protect individuals against ethnic profiling carried out by law enforcement in accordance with Denmark's human rights obligations? A part of the question can only be answered through examining whether Denmark's human rights obligations regarding ethnic profiling are observed when Danish police use Intelligence Led Policing (ILP) technologies – specifically POL-INTEL and Smart Spot, and whether the use of these technologies can exacerbate ethnic profiling practices.
Through statistical data it can be ascertained that the risk of being charged without being convicted in Denmark in 2014 was 65-70 percent higher for individuals with a non-Western background than it was for ethnic Danes. In the same period there was an 86-88 percent higher risk of immigrants or descendants with a non-Western background being arrested without being subsequently convicted compared to ethnic Danes. In the period 2009-2019, there was also a 27 and 45 percent higher probability that, respectively immigrants and descendants were charged in a case that ended with charges being dropped or an acquittal when compared with ethnic Danes.
Considering the above-mentioned statistics, POL-INTEL and Smart Spot raise questions about 1) whether their use exacerbate ethnic profiling practices, 2) whether the two technologies together constitute a predictive policing tool, and 3) whether they run the risk of creating or worsening existing (discriminatory) feedback loops.
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Maysum Sattar Al-Sami is a PhD fellow at the Department of Law at Aalborg University. She conducts research on the legal aspects of ethnic profiling in Danish police operations. The overall purpose of the PhD dissertation is to assess whether national law and practice regarding ethnic profiling is in accordance with other Danish law and Denmark's human rights obligations.