SIXTH INTERNATIONAL METROPOLIS CONFERENCE

WORKSHOP 22: Policing for a multi-ethnic society

Tuesday, November 27, 2001
14:00 - 15:30

ORGANIZER
Rotterdam Charter Foundation
Grotekerkplein 5
P.O. Box 1812
3000 BV Rotterdam
the Netherlands
T 010-233 10 43
F 010-412 84 33
E info@rotterdamcharter.nl
www.rotterdamcharter.nl

INTRODUCTION ON THE ORGANISATION
The "Rotterdam Charter" is a document that emphasises the need for partnership between the police, NGOs and local authorities, but most importantly it tries to assist the police organisations throughout Europe to respond to ethnic diversity in a positive and proactive manner. The Charter sets the principles on which this respond should be based, together with the main action which are required to turn these principles into reality.
The Charter was drawn during the conference "Policing for a Multi-Ethnic Society; principles, practice and partnership" which was organised in 1997 by RADAR (Rotterdam Anti-Discrimination Council), the Rotterdam Municipality and the Police Rotterdam-Rijnmond. The participants came from 17 different European countries and they had the important task of discussing and formulating the "Rotterdam Charter".

The "Rotterdam Charter" covers five different topics:
- Recruitment and retention;
- Training of police officers;
- The implementation of anti-discrimination law;
- Building bridges between ethnic minorities and police;
- Migrant participation in crime versus police participation in criminalising migrants.

The Charter has been translated to several different languages: English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Slovenian, Italian and Czech. At the moment working a Danish translation is in preparation..

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
The police must believe that in our society we should live with openness for new and different cultures, with tolerance and without prejudice. They should guide their relation with the population with respect and cooperation in order to built a healthy multi-ethnic society.
The police have the important task of protecting every member of the society. For an organisation of such significance and expectations, they must have the best education and training facilities that can help them provide the citizens with the necessary conditions and services, regardless of their background.

During this workshop, an analyse of relevant and actual issues concerning the police work offers the grounds to draw, together with the participants of the workshop, recommendations which can help police organisations to deal with issues such as:
- Recruitment and retention of police officers from minority groups
- Training of police officers
- Implementation of anti-discrimination laws
- Promoting trust & co-operation
- The use of statistics

The workshop will stress the importance of cooperation between NGOs, local/national authorities and police organisations, but it will also highlight the exchange of knowledge between practical work and research on academic level. The communication channels between those organisations should also be improved in order to achieve a multi-ethnic police service.
Taking into account the international background of the Charter, the recommendations should reflect the situation of the different countries.


The participants will have the possibility of posing questions after which set of three presentations from different countries/experiences. This will allow them to see the differences in policies in the different countries. There will be a general discussion during the workshop, which will be ensured by a set of questions, drawn by the organisers and available in advance of the session.

STRUCTURE
14.00 - Opening and welcome by Mr. Boy da Costa Gomez, member of the Board of the Rotterdam Charter Foundation
14.05 - Introduction on "Policing for a multi-ethnic society", based on the Rotterdam Charter by Mr. Rinus Visser, police inspector
14.20 - Presentation on the Spanish experience by Mrs. S. Cedó, Center UNESCO Catalunia
14.30 - Presentation on the Canadian experience by a delegate of the Royal Canadian Mountain police
15.40 - General discussion & summary
15.30 - Coffee break


The international foundation Policing for a Multi-Ethnic Society, also known as the Rotterdam Charter Foundation was founded in 1997. This foundation was created for a more solid and structured promotion, presentation and distribution of the Rotterdam Charter in the European countries. The aims of the foundation are:
- To establish a network of national support points for promotion and distribution of the Charter and related actions;
- To provide practical support and to share experience among persons promoting the Charter at national and local level;
- To share experience and promote good practice in each of the five substantive areas covered by the Charter;
- To monitor and assess progress of the implementation of the Charter across Europe.

The Rotterdam Charter Foundation wishes to add the recommendations drawn during the workshop to the Charter. By adding them to the Charter, the foundation wants to assure that the document is updated with changes and needs of our society and that most NGO's, police organisations and local & national authorities in Europe have access to the results of the workshop. But the foundation wants at the same time to ensure that those recommendations are put into practice.