What does Behr mean by calling police work a "craft of penetration" (Durchdringungshandwerk), and how does this connect to profiling?

At the core of cop culture is the assumed right to penetrate public, social and even private space, together with the belief of being "the good guys". Patrols choose whom to check by outward appearance, which in Behr's example was social profiling (looking like a drug user), not racial profiling.

The core of cop culture, besides the conviction of belonging to "the good guys", is the taken-for-granted right to penetrate public, social and even personal space, together with the belief that one interprets reality correctly. The basic activity of street cops is patrolling (Bestreifen) public and non-public space, which over time gives them knowledge of the space and familiarity with the people using it.

Behr's example: two officers drive through a station area with a general mandate. They "look for work". From a distance they pick someone to check. They don't know the person; they decide by the "outward appearance" (äusserer Anschein). Today this would probably be called racial profiling, but it was more precisely social profiling: the deciding label was "drug user", not ethnicity.

Behr adds that shame, dignity and its violation, tact, politeness or aesthetics do not guide officers' actions on duty, and that suspending these everyday conventions must itself be learned. He also points out how important "honour" is to the men who use violence against the police.

Go deeper:

• Wikipedia: Racial profiling — definition and debate.
• Wikipedia (DE): Racial Profiling — includes the 2024 European Court of Human Rights ruling against Switzerland (Wa Baile, German).