Experiencing police violence and insults: narratives from ethnic minority men in Denmark

Abstract

Young men living in socially deprived areas are more likely to be exposed to criminal activity and extraordinary policing measures. This article focuses on the narratives of police encounters told by ethnic minority young men living in a deprived neighbourhood in Denmark, defined by the Danish government as a 'ghetto'. In total, 76 young men and 6 young women (age 15 to 26) were interviewed between 2016 and 2017. The article focusses on their experiences of the police's use of force, interpreted as violence by the participants. We have categorized their experiences into three types: unnecessary use of force, inconsistent violence, and humiliation/insults. While police violence is often understood as primarily physical, we also show that in the young people's recollections of these incidences, issues of 'moral violence' becomes important. While not only specifically violating the body, this type of violence also affects the integrity and dignity of individuals. Our participants recounted forms of violence, which were extrajudicial in terms of physical use of force and they described how the police used indirect and degrading techniques of violence, some of which can be categorized as sexual harassment, embarrassment and public humiliation. From their perspectives, police power appeared unpredictable and illegible.

Community policing in Danish “ghetto” areas: Trust and distrust between the police and ethnic minority youth

“…In our study, the experience of being under prioritized was most pronounced among Copenhagen-based community officers and much less so among community officers in Aarhus. While being allocated much time to police a particular area can benefit officers’ ability to build constructive relations with some community residents, interviews we conducted with young people in the Aarhus “ghetto-area,” however, also showed that the constant presence of officers can also lead some young people to feel stigmatized and singled out as troublesome (Haller et al, 2020a, 2020b), and ultimately to see themselves as “second-class citizens” (Solhjell et al, 2019: 358).…”

“…As part of the overall study, we interviewed 82 young people (16–24 of age) with ethnic minority backgrounds in order to shed light on their experiences with the police. Previous publications by the research group have focused on the young people’s experiences of “minor harassment” (Haller et al, 2020b), of police violence (Haller et al, 2020a), of being seen as a “threat” (Solhjell et al, 2019), and of experiencing the police as both “protecting” and “suspecting” them (Saarikkomäki et al, 2021). This article focuses on how the police experienced policing young people in marginalized neighborhoods, while using insights from the “youth interviews” to contextualize findings from the “police interviews.”…”

“…In that regard, Skogan (2006b) found that the impact of having a bad experience with the police is 4 to 14 times as great as that of having a positive experience. Likewise, in the other Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, and Denmark), recent studies have illustrated how ethnic minority young people, especially those living in deprived housing estates, often have negative experiences with the police; violence, prejudiced treatment, and a disproportional amount of stop and search have been reported (Haller et al, 2020a, 2020b; Saarikkomäki et al, 2021; Wästerfors and Alm, 2020).…”

My Criminal Friend: Maneuvering Friendships and Abstaining from Crime in High-Risk Areas in Denmark

“…Nordic research has shown that ethnic minority young people are disproportionately targets of a 'police gaze' (Finstad, 2000) and experience intensified police control (Haller et al, 2020a(Haller et al, , 2020bNielsen et al, 2019;Saarikkomäki et al, 2021;Solhjell et al, 2019). Such a 'police gaze' and pro-active police work is based on typologies where certain citizens appear more suspicious to the police than others, because of characteristics such as age, ethnic origin, and clothing (Holmberg, 2003).…”

The Traces of Oppression and Trauma to Ethnic Minorities in Indonesia Who Experienced Rape on the 12 May 1998 Tragedy: A Review of Literature

“…For example, Ma (2018) reported his narrative research related to the marginalization of the Chinese government towards ethnic minorities in China, especially in terms of employment. Haller et al (2020) exposed police oppression against ethnic minorities in Denmark. Femi-Ajao et al (2018) examined the domestic oppression against ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom.…”