Victoria police may be unequally targeting people of African appearance with warrantless search powers

A lower threshold of suspicion is being applied to African Australians by Victoria police, an analysis suggests. Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design

Victorian police may be unequally targeting people perceived to be African with warrantless search powers, a Guardian analysis can reveal.

It also shows Victoria police are failing to collect data on ethnic appearance – to ensure racial profiling is not occurring – in about 20% of searches. This is despite a 2013 commitment to monitor whether discriminatory searches were being carried out.