Police brutality and racial profiling in 2025.

What recent evidence shows

1. Disproportionate Stop & Search / Strip Searches

   • In London, Black adults have been strip searched at nearly three times the rate of white adults from January to August 2025. Nearly half of the searches on Black individuals found no illegal items. The Times

   • In Victoria, Australia, studies show that Aboriginal, African, Pasifika, and Middle Eastern/Muslim-appearing people are much more likely to be stopped or searched unjustifiably. The “hit rates” (finding contraband or illegal items) tend to be lower for many of these groups, suggesting that many of the stops are not based on strong suspicion. anasinagraybarberio.org.au

2. Use of Excessive Force / Fatal Incidents

   • In Memphis (USA), a Department of Justice probe found systematic excessive force and racial discrimination specifically targeting Black people. AP News

   • In Montreal, the case of Abisay Cruz (died March 2025) involved officers restraining him by knee and back, with allegations of excessive force and that race might have played a role. Wikipedia

   • In India, 2025: two deaths in Madhya Pradesh are being investigated by the NHRC for alleged police brutality. One involved a student beaten after breaking a bottle; another involved a man allegedly assaulted and drowned during a police search for illicit liquor. The Times of India

3. Racial Profiling & Biased Policing Tools

   • Amnesty International has called out “predictive policing” in the UK as racist: algorithms/tools trained on historically biased data (e.g. from stop & search, policing of certain areas) are reinforcing bias. The Guardian

   • Maricopa County (Arizona, USA) is under scrutiny: it misused hundreds of millions of dollars meant for reforming racial profiling violations from earlier years. AP News+1

4. Persistent Disparities despite Reforms

   • In England & Wales, there is a Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) intended to reduce bias. Some progress is reported (e.g., reduced stop & search rates for Black people, better recording of use of force), but many argue the change is slow and inequalities remain. npcc.police.uk

   • In Australia’s Victoria, even though racial profiling was made illegal some years ago, many racialized communities still report feeling disproportionately targeted. anasinagraybarberio.org.au

5. Impact on Public Trust & Perception

   • In the U.S., five years after George Floyd’s death, a Pew Research poll finds that many believe relations between Black communities and police are about the same as before, and a significant share say things have gotten worse. Pew Research Center

   • The sharing of video evidence of police violence is seen by many (especially Black Americans) as helpful for accountability, but also increases distrust and fear. Pew Research Center

---

Key Challenges

• Accountability and Oversight: Investigations often lag, evidence is disputed, sometimes there is misuse of funds meant for reform (e.g. Maricopa County).

• Data & Transparency Gaps: In many places, data on race/ethnicity in policing is incomplete or not uniformly collected. Without data, it is hard to measure disparities or enforce policy.

• Structural/Bias-inherited Tools: Predictive policing, algorithmic tools, stop & search policies often rest on historical data that already reflect bias; using them without critical oversight risks reinforcing profiling.

• Legal and Cultural Resistance: Some governments or police leadership reject findings of institutional racism or bias, or underplay them. E.g. Italy criticising the Council of Europe’s warnings. Reuters

---

Reform Efforts / What’s Being Proposed or Done

• Policy reforms & oversight: e.g. guidelines against racial profiling, revised stop & search protocols, better vetting, transparency in use of force, more rigorous internal affairs / independent investigations (seen in UK, Australia, parts of the U.S.).

• Calls to ban or limit certain practices: For example, Amnesty’s call to ban predictive policing in the UK. The Guardian

• Public pressure & civil society: Protest movements, media investigations, NGOs raising awareness (e.g. studies showing misuse of funds, cases like Abisay Cruz), pushing for reforms.

• Judicial action: Courts sometimes rule against discriminatory practices, or order reforms and compliance oversight.

• Better data collection: Pushes in different jurisdictions to have more detailed collection and publication of racial/ethnic data in police encounters, stops, use of force.

---

Outstanding Questions & Needs

• How to ensure reforms are implemented rather than just promised.

• How to measure success — what metrics should be used (e.g. reduction in discrepancy between groups, reduction in force incidents, improved trust).

• How to balance public safety with civil rights — ensuring policing is not discriminatory but still effective.

• How to design and regulate algorithmic or “data‐driven” policing so it does not entrench bias.

• Cultural transformation — training, implicit bias awareness, community policing, oversight, representation etc.