Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies explanations of specific actions by police that they believe have been harmful and unprofessional, and to obtain redress where appropriate, without needing to have recourse to law. Some incidents may be suitable for resolution through dialogue between the citizen and the police, and complaints procedures should allow for this possibility. More serious incidents should be referred to an independent police complaints body established for this purpose, or to a more general complaints investigation body where this exists, such as an Ombudsman. It is essential that minorities are able to have access to complaints mechanisms, so that they have the same access to redress against the abuse of police powers as other citizens. Police managers should positively support the existence of such complaints systems, not merely on principle, but because their existence helps to increase community confidence and because they generate important information for police managers about where police performance may be going wrong. States should ensure that police complaints mechanisms are in place and are working effectively, that they involve some element of civilian (including national minority) participation and oversight, and that they are fully accessible to all ethnic and national groups. In order to participate effectively in communication with police, and indeed to exercise their responsibilities as citizens generally, minorities need to be aware of their rights and responsibilities in matters related to policing, and also the powers of the police and the services they are expected to provide. Although provision of such awareness among citizens may not be their specific responsibility, police need citizens to have such awareness in order for them to carry out their role in accordance with democratic principles. Police should therefore be willing to actively promote and participate in public education for this purpose, and in particular to support work in schools or by NGOs. They should be willing particularly to assist awareness among minorities, and to participate in meetings or training for community leaders organized for this purpose. States, however, should not leave this task solely to the police and NGOs, but should ensure that information about the rights and responsibilities of citizens in relation to policing is widely available, including in minority languages, and is included in the formal curriculum of schools. V. OPERATIONAL PRACTICES 16. Measures should be taken to ensure that police enforce the law in an impartial and non-discriminatory manner which does not single out any particular group, e.g. by engaging in 'racial profiling'. Such measures should 31