Outcome Flashcards
Underprotection
Delsol and Shiner, 2006
- Almost two decades later from Brixton
- This time the focus was not on disorder but on the racist murder of black teenager, Stephen Lawrence, in South London and the subsequent failure to bring his killers to justice. The resulting public inquiry – which began several years after the original incident and only after a change of government – focused on the flawed investigation into Stephen’s murder and on the investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crimes more generally.
- The inquiry, chaired by Sir William Macpherson, found fundamental errors had marred the murder investigation resulting from ‘‘a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership by senior officers’’
- Macpherson highlighted a general lack of trust and confidence in the police amongst ethnic minorities
- To this end he called for vigorous inspections, improved handing of racist incidents, changes to training in racism awareness and cultural diversity and improvements to employment, recruitment and retention policies and the handling of discipline and complaints. - majority accepted
Stephen was stabbed to death by a racist gang of five at a bus stop in south-east London in 1993. Last year Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted of his murder.
6 March 2014
On a dramatic day of developments, a review into the original murder investigation - by the barrister Mark Ellison - finds that an undercover Met Police officer worked within the “Lawrence family camp” while an inquiry into the handling of the murder was under way.
It also finds there are reasonable grounds to suspect at least one detective on the team was corrupt. This leads Home Secretary Theresa May to announce a new public inquiry into undercover policing.
A separate report into Operation Herne - an investigation launched by the Met into the allegations made by former undercover officer Peter Francis - finds no evidence to back claims he was tasked to smear the Lawrence family. But it does find failings regarding allegations about undercover officers indulging in inappropriate sexual relationships
Brixton riots
Bowling and Phillips 2008
- Stained relationship between black comm and police: public disorder in Bristol in 1980 and then in Brixton in 1981 etc
- Brixton riots triggered by ‘operation swamp 81’: 943 people stopped over four days
- Images of riots, burning, looting and threat of a collapse in social order beamed on tv across the country, Scarman identified riots as an outburst of anger and resentment of young black people v the police
- Scarman recommended efforts to recruit more ethmin officers, improving comm relations etc
- After mid 1980s disorders involving black people less frequently reported in the media
Delsol and Shiner 2006
- Start of a strained relationship 80’s
- In the aftermath of these events, Lord Scarman was appointed to head a public inquiry into the causes of the Brixton disturbances and to make recommendations with the aim of preventing further disorder.
- Scarman criticised the heavy-handed approach to policing in Brixton and highlighted the role of operation ‘‘Swamp 81’’, which involved more than 120 officers patrolling the area with the instruction to stop and search anyone that looked ‘‘suspicious’’. Over 4 days, 943 people were stopped and 118 were arrested, more than half of whom were black (Bowling and Philips 2002)
Overpolicing and alienation (relate to community policing)
Alienates discriminated communities from police (and society?), damage to public trust and police legitimacy, knock-on effects on willingness to cooperate with police and compliance with the law
• Before 1960s in Britain few people more ethnic minority communities represented in many sectors esp in police officers - none eth min officers whatsoever
• Slowly forming a more representative part of the criminal justice system
• Racist beliefs and racial attitudes remain widespread in British society
• Research shown in past three decades that stereotypes still used by police to classify people based on their ethnic origin
• Asians: liars, devious, potential illegal immigrants but transformations undergone and asians now seen as conformists? - family pressures, tight knit communities, high level social control
• Stereotypes of black people more consistent in thought to be more prone to violent crime and drug abuse, suspicious, aggressive
• Stuart Hall (1978) Policing the Crisis: shows how black people subjected to severe policing due to pre-existing beliefs on their supposed criminality
• Portrayed by the media as ‘folk devils’
• London terrorist attacks in 2005 - young muslim men as new ‘folk devils’ and enemies
• 1960s and 70s - ‘coloured immigration’ a political issue that framed black and asian people experiences of policing. Immig act 1971 gave police powers to detain and question those they suspected of breaching immig laws
Black people les satisfied with police action and believe police unfair to certain groups. Asians more mixed with less disapproval of the police
More white people think police do good job than asian or black
• Following the macpherson report in 1999 the home office believe more to be done about raising confidence and trust
• Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 - makes unlawful both direct and indirect discrimination in the provision of police services and in the use of coercive powers
• Since the lawrence inquiry, the prob of crime within black and asian comm has been the focus of increased public anxiety and media attentin and this has also highlighted the role of the police. In the monthss following the inquiry there was a large rise in recorded robbery, partic invoing phone theft and police sstats pointed to an over rep of black youth among those suspected and arrested
• London bombs july 7 - panic on ‘islamic terrorism’
