Macron calls racial profiling 'unbearable,' announces survey

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

France plans to launch a government-monitored online tool in January that is designed to identify and root out discrimination by police, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday.

Macron called it “unbearable” that people of color are more likely to be stopped by law enforcement officers than white people.

“We are going to set up a large survey on an internet platform where people can say where they are discriminated against and in what way," he said in an interview with Brut media on Friday.

Police misconduct has received additional attention as a cause in France after footage emerged last month of French police officers beating up a Black man, triggering a nationwide outcry.

Macron said the “widespread” use of police body cameras would help bring wrongful actions to light. The government confirmed in September that all police officers in France will wear body cameras by July 2021.

France has been experimenting with the use of body-worn cameras since at least 2013, but tensions exist over balancing security needs and public rights.

Macron’s government is pushing a security bill that makes it illegal to publish images of police officers with intent to cause them harm. Critics fear the proposed could weaken press freedoms and make it more difficult for all citizens to expose episodes of police brutality.