The fines of the French police were assessed by Reuters
2022.12.06 09:51
The fines of the French police were assessed by Reuters
Budrigannews.com – Based on a review of some police fine data and census counts of immigrants and their children, Reuters found that areas with the highest immigrant populations in France have higher rates of police fines. Data collection regarding race or ethnicity is strictly restricted by French law.
Reuters used department-level immigrant population figures from France’s official statistics agency for its national analysis. Even if a person has since been naturalized, this data considers them to be immigrants if they were born abroad and have foreign nationality. This information was compared by Reuters to the counts of pandemic-related fines issued in each department by the interior ministry between the middle of March and the middle of May 2020.
During the COVID-19 lockdown that lasted from March to May 2020, the police issued almost 26 fines per 1,000 people in the five departments with the highest concentration of immigrants, or 19% or more of the population. That rate is 54% higher than where police fined nearly 17 per 1,000 people elsewhere.
Reuters requested national data on fines unrelated to COVID through the freedom of information act. The request was granted in August by the responsible administrative authority; however, the interior ministry has not provided the data and has declined to explain why. The Interior Ministry has been ordered to release the data, and Reuters has asked the Administrative Court of Paris to compel it to do so.
Using data from the 2017 census, the government think tank France Strategie calculated district-level percentages of children and adults between the ages of 25 and 54 with non-European migrant backgrounds for Paris.
Children in immigrant families are counted in the analysis by France Strategie. Those without French citizenship who were born in a non-European country and later naturalized are included in this age group. Through a freedom of information request, Reuters was able to obtain district-level counts of pandemic-related fines for the years 2020 and 2021. () The national data had already been made public.)
This demonstrated that the five Parisian districts with the highest proportions of residents of non-European descent have tended to receive more fines from the police. According to France Strategie’s statistics, non-European residents made up at least 26% of the under-18 population and 16% or more of the adult population in those districts. In those districts, there were 58 fines per 1,000 people issued by the police. Across the other 15 regions, the rate was just about 42 fines for each 1000 populace.
A few notable exceptions were: Despite having a relatively small minority population, the 8th district of Paris, which is home to the famous Champs Elysees shopping avenue, had the highest rate of fines.
The methodology of Reuters was examined by Patrick Simon, a researcher at the Institute of Demographic Studies in France who specializes in demographics and discrimination. According to him, a variety of factors could account for the higher concentration of COVID-related fines in regions with a larger immigrant population.
He mentioned ethnic profiling as one possibility. In addition, more police activity in minority areas is one. Another factor is the smaller homes in urban areas, which encourage young people to spend more time outside.
