German police practices fuel systemic discrimination, with officers routinely using racial profiling and relying on ethnic stereotypes, a new study published by an online portal that tracks immigration and asylum data shows.

The study was conducted by Mediendienst Integration and is published amid activist concerns over the rise of racism in Germany and the rise of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

In routine policing, ethnic minorities, especially those perceived as migrants, are disproportionately targeted by patrols and police interventions, research conducted in the western German state of Lower Saxony has found.

Research reveals that officers often rely on racial cues, not behavior, when conducting proactive patrols. Individuals who perceive themselves as "black African" or "Albanian" are often associated with drugs, leading to increased police attention.

Southern Europeans, Russians and so-called "clan" members are seen as more aggressive or uncooperative, prompting police overreaction, the study found.

The research, conducted by two professors from the Police Academy of Lower Saxony, found that young men of Arab or Turkish origin, as well as politically left-wing individuals, were often seen as hostile by police officers, resulting in harsher treatment of them.

Such assumptions lead to excessive policing, with more forces being deployed to situations involving said groups regardless of the actual threat level, while reinforcing negative perceptions of these groups as threats to public safety.