Distributive justice and police legitimacy: the demographic and geographical distribution of police ID checks in Spain
| Autor | José María Lopez-Riba |
| Cargo | Universidad Pompeu Fabra |
| Páginas | 146-163 |
LOPEZ-RIBA, José María: “Distributive justice and police legitimacy: the demographic
and geographical distribution of police ID checks in Spain Justicia distributive y
legitimidad policial: la distribución demográfica y geográfica de las identificaciones
policiales en España”
Polít. Crim. Vol. 16, Nº 31 (Junio 2021), Art. 6, pp. 146-163
[http://politcrim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Vol16N31A6.pdf]
Distributive justice and police legitimacy: the demographic and geographical
distribution of police ID checks in Spain
Justicia distributiva y legitimidad policial: la distribución demográfica y geográfica de
las identificaciones policiales en España
José María López-Riba
Universidad Pompeu Fabra
josemaria.lopez@upf.edu
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0520-710X
Reception date: 05/28/2020
Acceptance date: 12/03/2020
Abstract
The distribution of police activity throughout society is a key issue for distributive justice
and police legitimacy. This article presents two studies on the distribution of police
identification checks in Catalonia (Spain) using data provided by Mossos d’Esquadra (the
Catalan Regional Police). The first study explores the demographic distribution of ID checks,
in other words, which groups of people are more likely to be stopped and have their
identification checked by police. The second study examines the geographical distribution,
that is, in which places are there greater concentrations of ID checks. The results show that
with regards to demographics, men, young people and foreign people are associated with
higher levels of ID checks. In addition, the geographical distribution is not primarily driven
by crime rates, thus, in general, it seems that the distribution of ID checks is not as strongly
related to crime as may be expected.
Keywords: ID checks, police stops, policing, distributive justice, police legitimacy.
Resumen
La distribución de la actividad policial a través de los grupos sociales es un aspecto clave de
la justicia distributiva y la legitimidad policial. Este artículo presenta dos estudios sobre la
distribución de las identificaciones policiales en Cataluña (España) que hacen uso de datos
proporcionados por los Mossos d’Esquadra (la policía de Cataluña). El primer estudio
explora la distribución demográfica de las identificaciones policiales; o en otras palabras, a
qué grupos de personas es más probable que la policía les pare por la calle y les pida su
identificación. El segundo estudio examina la distribución geográfica; es decir, en qué
lugares hay mayores concentraciones de identificaciones policiales. Respecto a la
distribución demográfica, los hombres, los jóvenes y las personas extranjeras presentan tasas
mayores de identificaciones. Además, la distribución geográfica de las identificaciones no
está guiada principalmente por las tasas de delincuencia. Por lo tanto, se concluye que parece
Polít. Crim. Vol. 16, Nº 31 (Junio 2021), Art. 6, pp. 146-163
[http://politcrim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Vol16N31A6.pdf]
147
que la distribución de las identificaciones no está relacionada de forma robusta con la
delincuencia como cabría esperar.
Palabras clave: identificaciones policiales, paradas policiales, función policial, justicia
distributiva, legitimidad policial.
1. Police ID checks in Spain
Police identity checks (ID checks) are the power conferred to the police to stop people in the
street and ask them to show their identity documents. According to Spanish legislation
(Public Safety Act 2015), a police officer can conduct an ID check in two scenarios: i) when
there is evidence of the commission of an infraction (this could be criminal or
administrative); ii) when a police officer considers it necessary to prevent a crime.
1
Therefore,
in the Spanish legislation, as well as in other countries, ID checks are mainly conceived as a
crime control strategy in terms of either detection or prevention.
Despite being extensively studied in international criminological literature, ID checks are an
under-researched area in Spain. There are a few notable exceptions that study some specific
aspects of ID checks, such as their regulation,
2
the use of ethnic profiling
3
and their
effectiveness in detecting infractions.
4
Aside from these examples, in comparison to
international studies, Spanish criminology has paid little attention to police ID checks despite
many reasons that suggest their potential criminological relevance.
The first of these reasons is their extensive use in comparison to other countries.
5
In 2015,
the Civil Guard and the Spanish National Police (the two state police forces) alone
6
conducted
around 6.5 million ID checks.
7
The second group of reasons are the controversies surrounding
the practice of ID checks: their use in controlling irregular migration,
8
the use of ethnic
profiling
9
and their apparent ineffectiveness with regards to detecting infractions.
10
These
issues have been reported by different organizations and institutions at the national and
international level.
11
Finally, the third reason is that some authors claim that by analysing
police stops, such as the characteristics of the context in which they take place (for example,
1
There are other scenarios provided by the law in which t he police can conduct collective ID checks, but the y
are reserved for exceptional cases: the investigation and pr evention of serious crimes and crimes that generate
social alarm.
2
For example: DE LA SERNA (2017), passim; RÍOS et al. (2015), pp. 43-85.
3
For example: GARCÍA et al. (2013), passim; APDHA and IPAZ-UGR (2016), passim; FRA (2010), passim.
4
For example: GARCÍA et al. (2013), passim; GARCÍA et al. (2016), passim; SCHMITT y PERNAS (2008),
passim.
5
LÓPEZ-RIBA (2019), p. 194.
6
It should be noted that in Spain there are also regional and local police forces.
7
MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (2016), p. 438.
8
DE LA SERNA (2017), passim; MARTÍNEZ and SÁNCHEZ (2013), passim.
9
See note 3.
10
See note 4.
11
For example: AMNISTÍA INTE RNACIONAL (2011), passim; CERD (2016), p. 5; DEFENSOR DEL
PUEBLO (2013), p. 55; ECRI (2018), p 16.
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