Transformative Milestones in Policing and Race Relations

The three important events in the timeline of modern policing that are discussed in this essay relate to the changes that have occurred in the context of policing and race after the murder of Stephen Lawrence. The specific events that are considered in this essay are the Macpherson report 1999, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, the definition of racist incident and the role of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), and the application of the Equality Act 2010 to the police forces.

One of the important consequences of the Stephen Lawrence murder was the appointment of an independent commission to explore the issues related to race and policing in the UK (Macpherson, 1999). The Macpherson report suggested that there were some significant issues related to race and policing, including the issue of lack of public trust and confidence in police use of stops as well as searches (Macpherson, 1999). The Macpherson report of 1999 or the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report has been hailed as a turning point in the relations between the police and the Black and Minority Ethnic groups (Beynon, & Kushnick, 2003). The death of Stephen Lawrence and the inability or the failure of the police to investigate the death and the poor treatment meted out to Stephen Lawrence’s family were all important findings of the inquiry (Macpherson, 1999). There were 70 recommendations made by Macpherson (1999) and 67 of these recommendations led to specific changes in practice or law (Neal, 2003). Some of these recommendations were particularly relevant to policing and race relations, while others were related to the need for openness and accountability across the criminal justice system and tackling institutional racism (Bowling & Phillips, 2007). Thus, the inquiry into murder of Stephen Lawrence led to significant changes in the way police powers are exercised in communities, especially within minority communities.

Prior to the findings and recommendations made by the Macpherson report, the Scarman inquiry had already revealed that there was an issue of institutional racism that had repercussions for how the police interacted with minority communities in the UK (Scarman, 1981). Scarman inquiry was established after the infamous Brixton riots, which exposed some important gaps and trust deficit between the police and the minority communities (Scarman, 1981). The Scarman Inquiry was not only important because it noted the failures of policing, and the gaps in personnel and training, but also for its noting of the wider institutional racism in education and housing as manifestations of wider institutional racism (Neal, 2003).

Therefore, even prior to the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the Brixton riots had exposed the issue of racism and its effect on policing communities in the UK. The significance of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry is that it exposed further and continuing issues in race relations and policing, which led to further changes in the system. For instance, the evidence presented by the Institute of Race Relations for the Stephen Lawrence inquiry indicated that 67 per cent people knew someone who had experienced physical abuse, 40 per cent had personally experienced racial abuse; and 78 per cent people believed that police treated a crime in which the victim was white more seriously than one with a black victim (Kushnick & Kushnick, 2003, p. 242). These led to important recommendations by Macpherson (1999). One of these recommendations was to define a racist incident and allow Crown Prosecution Service to investigate into racist incidents. Consequently, the definition of racist incident in the Macpherson report was formally accepted by government departments and agencies and can be inquired into by the Crown Prosecution Services. The Crown Prosecution Services has also been the subject of some reform, with there being a rise in the recruitment of Black and Ethnic Minorities (Lammy, 2017).

Another important consequence of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry is the passage of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000. Prior to the passage of this law, the police and other public bodies such as, the immigration service, were exempt from the race relations legislation. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 has extended protection against discrimination by public bodies and the police to those who are victimised due to their race. Moreover, Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 makes both direct and indirect discrimination actionable under the Act. The Act also makes it incumbent on the police forces to ensure equality of opportunity and good race relations with the minorities.

The last important event in this timeline is the adoption of specific principles in the Equality Act 2010, specifically Section 149, which prescribes the Public sector Equality Duty applicable to the police forces as well. Section 149 provides that in the carrying out of their functions, the police forces must avoid unlawful discrimination, harassment, or victimisation which breaches the provisions of the equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic, which includes race, and people who do not share it. As per the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, it is unlawful for police officers to discriminate against individuals or harass or victimise them on the grounds of any of the ‘protected characteristics’. Race is one of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010. Therefore, police is barred from behaving in a way that is prejudicial to the interests of the Black and Ethnic Minorities or victimising them in any way. It may be noted that these changes in the way police is to react and respond to individuals are to a great extent also motivated by the negative reporting on the police behaviour and conduct post Stephen Lawrence murder in the Macpherson report. Therefore, it may be said that the event had a far reaching impact on how race relations are organised between police and the Black and Ethnic Minorities.

Despite the findings related to institutional racism, there is still much work to be done to reduce institutional racism with respect to the interactions between the police and the Black and Ethnic Minorities in the UK. Even in 2007, research showed that perception of stop and search powers being disproportionately used with relation to minorities remain high, as noted below:

“Police powers to stop and search individuals in public remain amongst the most contentious aspects of British policing. The issue was highlighted by both the Scarman and Stephen Lawrence inquiries into particular policing incidents. It became particularly controversial at the turn of the millennium when prominent people of African Caribbean origin, including the late Bernie Grant MP, Lord Taylor of Warwick, Lord Herman Ousley and the Most Revd. and Rt. Hon. Dr John Sentamu Archbishop of York, disclosed their personal experiences of being unjustifiably stopped and searched” (Bowling & Phillips, 2007, p. 936).

Despite the changes that have been brought into the system, there are still significantly high perceptions of institutional racism in the police forces (Benyon, 2012). The killing of Mark Duggan in 2011 and police action in riots post Mark Duggan killing have added to the perception that the police is institutionally racist (Benyon, 2012). The Mark Duggan case is seen to be one of racial profiling by the police (Benyon, 2012). Another case that became a flashpoint in the race relations and policing context was the Christopher Alder case, which revealed the issue of racism in the British prisons (Brayne, 2014). Christopher’s death on the floor of the police station led to a case in the European Court of Human Rights by his family (Brayne, 2014).

The Lammy Review, which was an independent review sanctioned by the government, comprehensively considered race relations within the criminal justice system (Lammy, 2017). The review reported that the “disproportionate representation of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals starts at the beginning of the CJS journey”, which is the first point of contact with the police (Lammy, 2017, p. 17). The stop and search powers is usually the first point of contact between an individual and the police forces and in this context, research reports largely negative experiences with the police by the Black and Ethnic Minorities (Bowling & Marks, 2015).

To conclude, the Stephen Lawrence murder led to a very important inquiry in the form of the Macpherson inquiry, whose report on the way police had responded to the murder and the victim’s family and the general observations on the racism in the police forces led to significant steps related to policing. The Race Relations (Amendment) Act, and the Equality Act 2010 are two of these important steps. Another step is the definition of racist incident which can be investigated by the Crown Prosecution Service. However, despite these steps, the recent Lammy Review indicates that there is much that is still to be done to improve the experience of the interaction between the Black and Ethnic Minorities and the police in the UK.

Bibliography

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Bowling, B., & Phillips, C. (2007). Disproportionate and Discriminatory: Reviewing the Evidence on Police Stop and Search. The Modern Law Review, 70(6), 936-961.

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