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Allegations of racism against the police up by 32% in four years
(January 10, 2012)![Stop and Search](http://images.mirror.co.uk/upl/m4/jan2012/0/1/pics-image-4-900062109.jpg)
Stop and Search
Complaints of racism against the police have risen by almost a third in four years, a Mirror investigation has found.
Almost three allegations are being lodged every day and the total number of grievances has jumped from 687 in 2007 to 904 in 2010.
During that time, officers and police staff have been allowed to continue in their jobs despite being found in possession of “racist propaganda”, sending racist emails and making racist jokes.
More than half of all the complaints were against London’s Metropolitan Police, by far the largest force.
The Met’s “institutional racism” was blamed for Stephen Lawrence’s killers escaping justice for nearly 19 years. Gary Dobson, 36 and David Norris, 35, were last week finally convicted of murdering Stephen at a bus stop in Eltham, South East London, in 1993.
The struggle for justice by the Lawrence family led to the Macpherson inquiry, which in 1999 blamed racist police for errors that allowed the killers to walk free.
Speaking after the conviction last week, Stephen’s mother Doreen Lawrence, 59, warned that British justice was still blighted by racism.
She said: “We are just one family among hundreds of thousands who are still suffering.”
Racist allegations against the Met have risen from 370 in 2007, to 454 in 2008, 500 in 2009 and 464 in 2010. Of the total of 2,068 against the force, a figure which includes the first part of 2011, around 10% were “locally resolved” – described by police as “a way of dealing with a complaint by solving, explaining, clearing up or settling the matter directly with the complainant”.
Only 22 were “substantiated”, with the rest dropped, withdrawn or “unsubstantiated”. During the same period, the percentage of race crimes solved by the force rose from 32% to 50%.
Manchester had the next highest complaints (351 since 2007), followed by West Midlands (349).
The figures were revealed by 29 of the 43 forces in England and Wales in response to requests under freedom of information laws.
Among the proven cases was a Nottinghamshire police civilian worker who escaped with a written warning in 2009 despite being found in possession of “racist propaganda”. That year two PCs on the same force got a slap on the wrist for sending a racist email and making racist comments at work.
In Cambridge, five officers have faced misconduct hearings for racism, with two being sacked and three being given warnings. Two Community Support Officers on the force were given written warnings for making racist comments.
In Kent, the grievances include racist jokes told at a station and an officer mimicking the accent of a complainant.
Five allegations resulted in misconduct hearings, with one officer resigning in 2009 for being “a member of a group whose members made discriminatory comments”. Another Kent officer was investigated over claims he was “unjustifiably targeting black people for stop checks”.
Eight Met civilian workers have been sacked since 2007 for making racist comments to colleagues verbally, in emails or on Facebook. Four more escaped with just a slap on the wrist.
In Norfolk an officer is being investigated after allegedly attending a domestic incident and saying: “I deal with black c**** like you all the time, so shut the f*** up.”
An officer from the same force had a case dealt with “locally” after he was accused of calling a mother “f****** P***” and “f****** Indian” in front of her children. He was also accused of saying: “You’re a f****** foreigner, taking over the place.”
In Staffordshire, a PC was accused of telling a motorist with no MoT “Don’t give me any of your P*** tricks.” This was another incident that was dealt with locally.
Other figures released by the Met reveal 208 officers and members of staff have sued the force for racial discrimination in the last five years.
The president of the National Black Police Association, Charles Crichlow, said: “I am glad the Daily Mirror is looking at this issue because we have to get our eyes back on the ball if we are going to be true to the whole legacy left by Stephen Lawrence.
“If we believe the case was a game changer, we can’t just move on. I have made a request to the Home Secretary to examine the police response to the Macpherson recommendations. There is now a window of opportunity to look at how far we have come.”
Many complaints relate to stop and search incidents, with people believing they were discriminated against because of their colour.
In the three years to 2009, there was a 164% increase in the use of stop and search powers.
Metropolitan Police Commander Peter Spindler said: “Whilst any rise in complaints is disappointing, we are encouraged that the public have the confidence to report complaints to us and know they will be listened to and taken seriously.”
An ACPO spokesman said: “Police officers have thousands of interactions with members of the public each day and most end well. Since the MacPherson report, both the satisfaction with the police among black and minority ethnic communities, and their willingness to come forward and complain when things go wrong has risen.
“When contact doesn’t end well, complaints are a vital part of understanding what went wrong and how it can be put right. Each and every case is different but where prejudice and gross misconduct occurs,there is a firm desire throughout policing, to challenge and tackle it robustly. In other cases, where the grievance concerns an officer’s performance rather than being a matter of misconduct, complaints can be upheld and local resolutions put in place.
“Much has changed in the police service over the last ten years and while there is still some way to go, the service has shown that it is willing to listen and learn from past events. Every complaint the service receives is recorded and investigated and the service encourages people to continue to come forward.”