Class-action lawsuit seeks police reform

Three leading rights organizations joined with grassroots groups Wednesday to launch this nation’s first class-action suit targeting the country’s massive police machine, contending it lawfully propagates a culture leading to systemic discrimination in identity checks.

Organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Open Society Justice Initiative allege that French police target Black people and people of Arab descent in choosing who to stop and check and say the practice is alienating those populations and a danger to society.

The organizations want deep law enforcement reforms, including a change in the article in the penal code that governs checks and currently gives police carte blanche with no trace of the encounter. They seek no monetary damages.

“You know, police officers don’t get up in the morning thinking ‘I’m going to go out and check the IDs of people of Arab descent or Black people, or maybe Asian people or European people.’ No,” said Stanislas Gaudon, general delegate for Alliance Police Union.