National Black Police Association

The Post Stephen Lawrence Decade

Review

October 2009

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“Power is the ability to define one’s reality, and make others adapt to that definition as

if it were their own”. – Dr. Wade Nobles

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Executive summaryThe Post Lawrence Decade

NBPA Research Brief

This is a brief executive summary of an NBPA commissioned qualitative analysisof local BPA perspectives on post Stephen Lawrence progress within the PoliceService. The research was conducted via a nationwide survey in 2009 by theNBPA Cabinet and made public in October 2009 via NBPA Websitewww.nbpa.com

BPA perspectives represent the most authoritative and qualitative source of data in termsof gaining reliable insight as to the true extent of progress on race issues within the PoliceService.

This has proven to be the case In relation to the Bristol Seminars 1. The seminal BPA

written and oral submission to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry2 and subsequent submissions

to The Commission for Racial Equality’s [CRE] Formal Investigation into the Police3 the

Morris Inquiry4 and more recently Metropolitan Police Authority’s Race & Faith Inquiry5

Majority of respondents to the NBPA survey stated that trust and confidenceon the part of BME Officers/Staff and BME Community in their force remained problematic.This would appear to buttress an assertion by the Chair of the Independent 10 yearLawrence review on behalf of the Runnymede Trust that ‘there remain many ways in whichrelationships between black & minority ethnic groups has not changed significantly fromten years ago’6

1“The "Bristol Seminars". [1990] were a watershed for black Police Officers because, for the first time, substantial numbers of us were

brought together (approximately 350 in four separate sessions) to try to help the Metropolitan Police to find out why black officers wereleaving the Service at an alarmingly high rate? The seminars threw up many concerns, which amounted to a general lack of confidence inthe Metropolitan Police Service as a fair employer” Ronald HOPE MSc., was a Chief Inspector in the Metropolitan Police Service and thefirst Chair of the Black Police Association, in 19952 Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report Published February 19993 CRE Formal Investigation Final Report Published 8th March 20054 Morris Inquiry was an independent inquiry into professional standards and employment matters in the Metropolitan Police. Published 20045Metropolitan Police Authority Race & Faith Inquiry Launched 20096 Dr Richard Stone Panel member, Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Chair of Independent Review – 10 Years On

October 2009

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There is evidence that BPA’s made use of the Stephen Lawrence racistincident definition to effect significant changes in policy and practice.

This analysis paints a picture of inconsistency across the country in relation tothe implementation of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Recommendations. Forces have foundthe Diversity agenda [important as it is] a convenient cover to avoid tackling difficult raceissues.

Some BPA’s reported a degree of uncertainty in local communities about therole of the ‘Family Liaison Officer’ in terms of whether their primary function was to supportthe victim family or to gather information for the Investigation.

Many examples of old stereotypes such as being aggressive, lazy,incompetent, dishonest, deceptive, fraudulent, deviant, uncouth, unclean, unpatriotic,disloyal all appear in the narratives of black staff. This is not an exhaustive accounthowever the prevalence of such powerfully preconceived notions within the organisation isclearly problematic.

Other peculiar stereotypical notions have emerged over time throughnarratives, most notably the notion that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff are treatedmore favourably than white members of staff, this appears to have contributed to thephenomenon of members of staff being subjected to unwarranted pressure whichpotentially leads to unlawful acts of discrimination.

A high level of concern was raised by BPA’s in relation to the ‘national trendof disproportionality’ around stop and search outcomes. It is apparent that black staff arehighly sensitive to this issue.

The anecdotal responses in the survey illustrate a widely held concern thatDiversity Training is often used as a “get out” clause for chief officers in order to insulatethe force from any potential liability in the event of Employment Tribunal proceedings.Conversely, there is some evidence of members of staff citing the lack of Diversity Trainingas a defence when inappropriate behaviour is challenged.

Some forces have disclosed a disturbingly high level of disproportionality interms of Professional Standards processes, particularly with regard to Asian Officers, thusthe analysis concludes that in many Forces Professional Standards Departments [PSD] havenow effectively become the showground in which race politics are being played out whereBlack and Asian members of staff are falling victim in a climate of high suspicion andmistrust.

Charles Crichlow

[NBPA National Executive]

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Contents

1. Executive summary……………………………………………………. 3-4

2. Foreword…………………………………………………………………. 6

3. Introduction……………………………………………………………… 8

4. Background……………………………………………………………… 9

5. Methodology……………………………………………………………. 11

6. Trust & Confidence……………………………………………………. 11

7. Handling of Racist Incidents………………………………………….. 13

8. Family Liaison & Dealing with Victims and witnesses……………... 15

9. Racism Awareness & Valuing Cultural Diversity…………………… 16

10. Professional Standards……………………………………………….. 17

11. Stop & Search Disproportionality…………………………………….. 18

12. Recruitment Retention & Progression………………………………. 19-20

13. Institutional Racism……………………………………………………. 20-21

14. Summary / Conclusion………………………………………………... 22

Appendix A………..……………………………………………………….….. 23-26

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Foreword

The National Black Police Association’s analysis and review of the workplace experience and

perceptions of black policing professionals is a timely contribution to a debate that appears to

have gathered an increasingly upbeat and optimistic momentum over the past few years. In

fact I would go as far as saying that there is a widely held view within the upper echelons of

the police service that the collective experience of the black, Asian and minority ethnic

workforce is one of gradual improvement and progress.

The independent inquiry, commissioned by the Metropolitan Police Authority, into the

Metropolitan Police’s management of ‘race and faith’ issues reported that; ‘the MPS has

improved greatly in terms of its performance in the field of Equality and Diversity over the last

decade since the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry’. However, the NBPA’s work in this area reveals

that such perceptions are not shared in the many responses from affiliated Black Police

Associations in answer to questionnaires circulated earlier this year. Responses which

suggest that the positive nature of the ‘much has been achieved’ brigade is one of fantasy

and premised upon a longing desire for the police service to succeed in what remains its

most vulnerable and challenging area of business – racial equality.

Progress, in the populist Policing and Diversity sense, it seems is all too often measured in a

rather crude and quantitative manner by presenting improvements in the recruitment of black

candidates into the police service. It rarely, if ever, refers to the qualitative experience of

these same officers following, for example, completion of their initial probationary period. In

the absence of this necessary depth and balance the analysis and commentary offered in

this review provides a contemporary insight into a set of revealing perceptions that illustrate a

snapshot of working life inside the contemporary Police Service. It provides thought

provoking analysis and seeks to make recommendations in an effort to progress the much-

visited debate around ‘race and policing’ in a meaningful way.

Canvassing the views of black police personnel, in a ‘safe and confidential manner’, to

establish perceptions and experiences of their working environment has to be considered as

an absolutely necessary exercise if we as a public service are to understand our ‘baseline’

from which we seek to achieve and most importantly understand what equal opportunity

means for an historically disadvantaged demographic.

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Without this understanding and recognition it is difficult to perceive how Diversity and

Equality action plans and policies might be managed and indeed afforded any real credibility.

It seems sensible therefore that the NBPA Review should seek to offer another perspective

on what is in danger of becoming a unilateral debate.

The reoccurring issues and concerns threaded throughout many of the responses would

suggest that ‘equality of opportunity’ for a number of black police personnel has failed to

materialise or indeed advance in what is most significantly ‘the post-Stephen Lawrence

decade’. Some of this can arguably be attributed to an over zealous performance

management culture which has prioritised police service delivery in terms of ‘crime-fighting’,

where black communities are perceived as requiring ‘specialist attention’ through a series of

moral panics e.g. terrorism, gun-crime, knife crime etc.

This approach has led to a dysfunctional disconnect between policy, strategy and delivery

which has in the unprecedented challenges of recent times, arguably resulted in key

recommendations from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, the Morris Inquiry and the

Commission for Racial Equality being placed on hold, thereby enabling the police to address

‘real policing issues’. Whether in this environment top-level commitment to ‘Diversity and

Equality’ has effectively percolated throughout the policing command structure can perhaps

be answered in the many and insightful responses throughout this Review.

However, perhaps the only real and unequivocal means of measuring progress in this much

visited arena calls for an untried approach that will articulate improvements for black policing

professionals that are real rather than illusory, permanent rather than transitory, substantive

rather than sham and realisable in the here and now rather than at some nebulous future

date. The debate is still to be had and contributions such as this Review are absolutely

crucial if we are to tell our story in a political environment that increasingly appears to believe

his-tory has already been written.

Superintendent Paul Wilson, MPS

Chair NBPA 1999-2000

Chair Met BPA 1997-1999

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Introduction

This is a qualitative analysis of National Black Police Association [NBPA] Affiliated

Association Responses to Questionnaires circulated in June 2009.

NBPA was formally launched in October 2009 with the objective of promoting good race

relations and equality of opportunity within the police services of the United Kingdom and the

wider community7

Therefore on our 10th Anniversary and the 10th Anniversary of the Publication of the Stephen

Lawrence Inquiry Report, it was deemed appropriate and timely to commission this work in

order to establish a general Black Police Association [BPA] Perspective and insight on some

of the key issues emanating from the Inquiry in terms of how much progress has been made

over the past decade. It is hoped that this report will form the basis of discussion at the

NBPA Annual General Meeting in October of 2009 and thereafter inform a more strategic

planning process in terms of the necessary reforms in policing from an NBPA Perspective.

Charles Crichlow

On behalf of NBPA National Executive Committee

Background

Human Rights Standards and Practice for the Police published by the Office of the United

Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights sets out a general principle that all Police

Officials have a responsibility to ‘Speak Out’ against ethnic or racial stereotyping8

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the National Black Police Association

[NBPA]9 and also the publication of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report10 This is no

7National Black Police Association NBPA Constitution www.nbpa.co.uk

8Human Rights Standards & practice for The Police Published by The Office of the United Nations High

commissioner for Human Rights. Professional Training Series No.5/Add.39

10Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report 1999

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coincidence as the issues emanating from the Lawrence campaign were a major driving

force behind the formation of the national Network, which became the NBPA.

There were many submissions to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry by senior Police Officers in

the Metropolitan Police and from across the UK commenting upon the culture within the

police organisation but when evidence was submitted to the Inquiry by the Black Police

Association this was a significant act of self determination, speaking out against what were

seen as injustices and in effect a disregard for the human rights of black people, thus came

the ‘first fruits’ of the labour of black officers who had struggled to carve out a role within

British Policing and to challenge the institution towards reform.

The historic moment for some was Sir William McPherson’s comments about the evidence

provided by members of the BPA. “we believe that it is essential that the views of these

officers should be closely heeded and respected”11 More recently [2006] Former NBPA

Chairman Superintendent Paul Wilson in his paper on the development and role of a Black

Police Association in the wider police modernisation agenda, provides an historical and

empirical view as to why and how the BPA earned this respect.12

By delving into the notion of institutional racism in their submission to the inquiry and boldly

proclaiming that “institutional racism permeated the Metropolitan Police Service” the BPA

recognised that they had come face to face with the hang-over of white supremacy and that

there was no way to dress-up the issue but to simply tell their story in plain straightforward

language based on evidence of their experience.

Doreen Lawrence correctly points out that sometimes language can change the way people

see things and this phrase [institutional racism] has been like a spotlight on the way prejudice

gets ingrained in organisations 13

Five years ago it was Home Office commissioned research assessing the impact of the

Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, which concluded that;

11ibid p 25

12The development and role of a Black Police Association in the wider police modernisation agenda.

Superintendent Paul Wilson13

Doreen Lawrence?

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There have been some substantial changes in policing in the past five years, not least thegeneral excision of racist language, together with other positive developments in relation toreporting; recording and investigating of hate crimes, murder investigation, family liaison andcommunity consultation. However, there remain a number of very important caveats to thispicture. First, the positive developments noted here are not uniformly visible across policeforces. Second, forces – perhaps understandably - have tended to focus attention on thosechanges that are most obviously identifiable and, possibly achievable” Interestingly and tosome extent paradoxically the report also concluded that “the greatest continuing difficulty isunderstanding the nature of, and designing responses to, the problem of ‘institutional racism’and that, despite intentions, certain groups may receive an inappropriate or inadequateservice because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin

Ten years on from the publication of the original report and there is much need for a realist

perspective on old and new phenomena that allows prejudice to remain ingrained within the

police service unchecked. The Metropolitan BPA ‘s view on the issue of Institutional Racism

offers such a perspective in submission14 to the Metropolitan Police Authority Race and Faith

Inquiry where they assert that;

The term has laid the foundation for fundamental change within the Police Service andbroader Criminal Justice System. It provided the vocabulary for critical analysis of race notjust within the MPS but right across ‘Whitehall and other public sector organisations,including schoolsThe abandonment of the term [institutional racism] in the face of so many indicators ofdisproportionality, such as lack of career progression for black staff, higher wastage rates,higher levels of disciplinaries, disproportionality in stop and search, over representation onDNA data bases… The abandonment of the term institutional racism borders on arrogance…

This report is not based on an exhaustive review of all the seventy recommendations of the

Lawrence Inquiry. It is an attempt to establish healthy and qualitative sense of the most

relevant issues from a BPA perspective.

14Metropolitan BPA Written Submission to the Metropolitan Police Authority Inquiry into Race & Faith. April

2009

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Methodology

The NBPA is made up of forty-three local associations and each one was given the

opportunity to respond to a questionnaire15 [Appendix A] which focussed on seven areas it

asked the question.

To what extent [if any] has progress been made over the past ten years since the publication

of the Lawrence report in your force relating to the following?

1. Trust & confidence in Police [BME Officers/Staff & BME community]

2. Handling of Racist Incidents

3. Family Liaison & Dealing with victims and witnesses

4. Racism Awareness & valuing Cultural Diversity

5. Professional Standards [Employment Discipline & Complaints]

6. Disproportionality in Stop & Search

7. Recruitment Retention & progression of BME Officers and Staff

In addition to these seven themes local BPA’s were asked the question. To what extent [if

any] does your force fit the Lawrence definition of being institutionally racist and to provide

evidence to support their argument [either way] Data was requested based on issues local to

each individual force.

The early findings from this exercise formed the basis for focus discussion among the NBPA

cabinet/nec thus the final report can be interpreted as the NBPA conclusion, position or

recommendation in respect of each aspect of the exercise.

Trust & confidence

Recommendation one [1] the overarching recommendation of the Lawrence Inquiry report

sets out ‘that a Ministerial Priority be established for all Police Services. ‘To increase trust

and confidence amongst minority ethnic communities’16

15Cover Letter & Questionnaire Circulated to Associations Affiliated to NBPA

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Clearly this is a difficult area to measure in academic terms as respondents have

acknowledged and noted. However community confidence is now the single Home Office

metric for measuring police performance in England and Wales.

Home Office satisfaction surveys have presented a very mixed picture in relation to

Comparative satisfaction of minority ethnic groups, as cited in the Runnymede ten year

analysis ‘42% of forces were rated poor in relation to the comparative satisfaction of minority

ethnic groups and of those a further 55% had deteriorated in their performance compared

from the previous year [2006/07]17

Though some forces have been performing excellently the Chair of the Independent review

on behalf of the Runnemede Trust stated in the foreword to the final report that ‘there remain

many ways in which relationships between black & minority ethnic groups has not changed

significantly from ten years ago’18

Evidence from NBPA Survey would appear to buttress this point with the majority of

respondents stating that trust and confidence in their force was problematic. In order to

maintain anonymity force names have been removed along with aspects of direct speech,

which would tend to identify a particular force.

“Many officers feel they have little confidence in the police. There have been many projectsthat started to work with the community that have been allowed to end some feel due to lackof support and or opportunity” [our force] has a small BME population and staff/communitiesfeel it is ‘on the back burner’ “

“There is a distinct lack of trust and confidence in the middle management, first and secondline supervisors, when dealing with BME officers in areas of discipline and opportunity fordevelopment”

“We believe that things have actually taken a reverse step in some areas stop and searchdisproportionality, use of force by officers, lack of accountability of officers when they abusethe BME communities”

Some BPA’s pointed to measures put in place to engage with BME communities in order to

gain their confidence however none could show any clear evidence of overall success many

citing examples of particular incidents which continue to erode confidence, an example of this

16Lawrence Report 1999

17The Stephen Inquiry ten Years On. An Analysis of the Literature. A Runnymede Report by Nicola Rolock

18Dr Richard Stone Panel member, Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Chair of Independent Review – 10 Years On

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is the response from one BPA which highlighted some areas of good practice but went on to

state that

“We have consistently high levels of satisfaction from victims of race crime. However, otherlevels of satisfaction within the BME population are not measured in sufficient numbers toassess to any great degree the trust and confidence in which [our force] is held. Recentlythere has been an issue where a local Muslim community has lost a great deal of trust andconfidence due to police actions”

It was evident from their responses that BPA’s based their submissions on a range of

sources i.e. internal staff survey findings, Independent Advisory Group [IAG] involvement and

various initiatives, however the most extensive and compelling evidence came from officer

narrative highlighting their experiences which for legal and reasons of confidentiality cannot

be reported on extensively.

Extracts from these narratives will be used where appropriate throughout the remainder of

this report. These are deemed to be particularly useful as in most cases they come directly

from officers and staff working at the coalface of policing across the UK.

Handling of Racist Incidents

A racist incident is any incident that is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other

person19

The Stephen Lawrence report was credited in the anti-racist movement for producing this

clear and unambiguous definition of what defines a racist incident. The level of ignorance or

prejudice on the part of police officers was such that the definition allowed the victims of

racist incidents to determine whether or not what they experienced was in fact racially

motivated. In the reverse, the definition also allowed Police officers to identify racist incidents

where the victim was either unaware or reluctant to identify such incidents as racist.

Interestingly, the definition also allowed police officers to identify incidents where fellow

officers did not.

19Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report 1999

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There is evidence that BPA’s made use of this aspect of the definition to effect significant

changes in policy and practice. An example of this is where forces did not have policies in

place for recording internal racist incidents and some BPA, s challenged this and brought

about change in policy.

This is consistent with the position of the BPA submission to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry;

essentially that the starting point for the Police service in terms of addressing race crime

should be to put its own house in order.

There is consistent evidence that black staff over the past ten years were prepared to take

the unpopular decision to apply this principle by bringing these matters into the realm of the

employment tribunal courts.

BPA’s report a general improvement in the management of racist incidents however the

handling of internal racist incidents appear to remains a cause for concern, as the responses

also paint an inconsistent picture.

“The force has robust systems in place to ensure that racist incidents are handled correctly.

However there is some concern in relation to how the force deals with allegations of racist

behaviour within the organisation…members feel that the issues they raise are not dealt with

in a robust manner…there would seem to be a reluctance by the force to acknowledge that a

racist incident has taken place, often the alleged behaviour is minimised, investigation into

the alleged behaviour takes too long and the outcome is often less than satisfactory for the

victim”

“The definition is now widely known, however interpretation is still problematic as officers

think that they have the right not to record a racist incident based on their opinion”

“Recommendation 12 has been adopted and recommendation 28, we are using a number of

agencies and external organisations to deal with the issue…unfortunately, there is not the

same vigour around incidents involving members of staff who have been victims at the hands

of other staff with the organisation. we have recently relaunched the internal hate

incident/crime policy in an attempt to address this matter but only time will tell”

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“This has got much better due to racist incident handling policies coming into being. These

are then measured so there is a greater level of accountability. However, the detection rates

remain low”

“there has been an improvement on the process. Such crimes are discussed at the daily

tasking meetings and all racial crime has to be QA d by the ACC before disposal”

Family Liaison & Dealing with victims and witnesses

The Stephen Lawrence inquiry shed much light on this aspect of investigating serious crime,

highlighting the need for provision of culturally sensitive services to the public, not just as a

measure to appeal to minority communities but rather as a cast iron operational imperative.

Responses from local BPA’s suggest a varied picture across the country.

“the force does have a number of trained FMO’s however we do not believe there are Ethnic

Minority FLO’s within our force”

“there are a number of BPA members trained as FLO’s however the level of incidents

concerning BME victims needing FLO is almost non existent..”

“[our force] has a limited number of FLO’s and only 1 which is BME. This has its obvious

limitations and I believe it will have a negative impact if such community issues were to take

place”

“from a position of no BME FLO’s 10 years ago ..[our force] currently has approximately 5

BME FLO’s”

“1 to 1 BPA support given to victims of crime through the training of BME victim support

volunteers”

Some BPA’s also reported that there was a degree of uncertainty in local communities about

the role of the Family Liason Officer in terms of whether their primary function was to support

the victim family or to gather information for the Investigation.

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In one force where a high number of murders involving black victims had occurred the local

BPA played a key role in supporting the FLO’s and on more than one occasion recovered the

service when the victim family had lost confidence. This was picked up in a major crime

review and reported upon in terms of future good practice. However, no evidence could be

found that these recommendations were promulgated.

Racism Awareness & valuing Cultural Diversity

In its recommendations, the Lawrence Report went to great length to cover a range of issues

under this heading these included who should be trained, the regularity of such training, the

inclusion of outside organisations, independent monitoring, joint working etc. The survey

commissioned by the NBPA uncovered a number of issues highlighting a mixed picture, the

most consistent theme being that forces have tended to shift the focus away from race issues

and onto what may be deemed to be, less problematic strands of diversity.

The anecdotal responses in the survey illustrate a widely held concern that Diversity Training

is often used as a “get out” clause for chief officers in order to insulate the force from any

potential liability in the event of Employment Tribunal proceedings. Conversely, there is some

evidence of members of staff citing the lack of Diversity Training as a defence when

inappropriate behaviour is challenged. The most striking example being a member of staff

who admitted to using the term “nigger “ and “coon” when making reference to black people

in the presence of other colleagues. This individual when put before a misconduct hearing

and cited the lack of diversity awareness training. The sanction imposed was a caution and

the member of staff remains a valued member of the force.

In another case, a black female Police and Community Support Officer [PCSO] was

physically assaulted and subjected to a tirade of obscenities by a white male PCSO

colleague in the presence of a senior colleague. He was also spared dismissal when he

admitted the offence and received a written warning on the basis that there was a culture of

inappropriate behaviour within the office. The sub-text being that abusing black staff in some

circumstances will not carry the ultimate sanction if the Force has negligently failed to

implement appropriate standards of behaviour in the workplace;

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“the perception among BME employees is that the organisation as a whole does not value

cultural diversity and lacks the required understanding around areas of racism”

“many BME employees have expressed concerns that the organisation is missing the real

issues and is engaged in a ticking the box exercise…some feel that they are seen as a

necessary evil rather than a valuable asset”

Professional Standards [Employment Discipline & Complaints]

When the Stephen Lawrence Report was published, five recommendations were made in

relation to this aspect of the inquiry. The Inquiry had heard evidence of police officers not

being held accountable for racist and other forms of inappropriate behaviour and that the

police simply could not be trusted to investigate complaints against fellow officers. These

recommendations proved to be the catalyst behind the establishment of the Independent

Police Complaints Commission [IPCC] though it must be noted that the vast majority of

complaints against police are still investigated by the police and only the most serious

allegations are investigated independent by the IPCC.

One of the most interesting and disturbing developments since the Lawrence Publication is a

perception held by some BAME colleagues that Professional Standards Departments in

some police forces across the country appear to be acting unlawfully and disproportionately

in pursuing black officers for alleged misconduct offences. This perception is borne out in the

anecdotal experiences produced to this review, which suggest high levels of

disproportionality in Professional Standards outcomes for BAME staff within a small number

of forces. Furthermore a number of forces are withholding pertinent Professional Standards

information when requested from BPA members.

In one force a Black or Asian officer was found to be about twice as likely to face informal or

formal discipline processes as a white officer.

18

Nearly a quarter of all Police Staff under suspension in the same force were from a BME

back ground, while Asian Officers were 12 times more likely to be subject to covert

investigation than white officers.

It must be added that this particular force has acknowledged the issue of disproportionality in

terms of its Professional Standards Processes and further research is commissioned.

Other BPA’s report similar phenomenon

“[Our Force] figures are lower than national average with BME officers being twice more

likely to be investigated by PSD than non BME colleagues. However, PSD just seem to

accept this disproportionality rather than doing anything about it”

NBPA focus discussions have raised questions about whether further research as opposed

to decisive action is necessary.

“we must be the most researched group of people in the country, they know what the issue is

they just don’t want to act we lost the momentum from Lawrence now and they cant be seen

to be politically correct thing are going to get worst”

Disproportionality in Stop & Search

A high level of concern was raised by BPA’s in relation to the ‘national trend of

disproportionality’ around stop and search outcomes. It is apparent that black staff are highly

sensitive to this issue.

“there is no rational explanation to this phenomenon which exclude racism”

Through their own personal narrative BPA’s provided some insight into police officer attitudes

they consider to be oppressive and racist. Black officers report feeling pressured to act in an

oppressive manner towards black members of the public particularly young people. In some

cases where these pressures were resisted examples have been given where black officers

have then been subjected to Professional Standards scrutiny resulting in misconduct

proceedings.

19

Recruitment Retention & progression of BME Officers and Staff

BPA’s across the country report steady progress in terms of recruitment though this must be

considered in relative terms given that most forces were approaching this issue from a very

low point. BPA’s appear to be playing a significant role in terms of positive action recruitment

initiatives such as outreach initiatives, mentoring programmes, and career days. There is

however a widely held belief that more attention is required on the retention and progression

of the BAME workforce

“there is a perception that as many leave as are recruited... many feel there is little

opportunity or support to progress many can reach the rank of sergeant; the most senior

BME officer is an inspector and has been so since 2002… through individual experiences

with the organisation many BME staff feel disengaged with the organisation”

In 2004 the NBPA set out a position on the issue of recruitment, retention and progression of

BAME staff20 In a discussion paper circulated to all UK police forces, NBPA proposed the

idea of affirmative action based on selection from among equally qualified candidates, the

fundamental basis of this proposal was that the operational imperative, the needs of the

community and the greater good regarding the legitimacy of policing in the UK must

supersede individual needs. This is still the position held by the NBPA.

20Affirmative Action – A Force for Change NBPA Discussion Paper [Tabled at NBPA 2004 Annual general

meeting]

20

Institutional Racism

Unwitting Prejudice

In everyday usage the term unwitting means much the same as ignorance or unknowing. The

effect of this form of prejudice is very often minimised and underestimated in terms of its

impact upon its victims, the majority culture will typically respond by saying ‘its just an

innocent mistake’, this is understandable when looked at from the perspective of one

individual making an honest mistake. However examples of unwitting prejudice are too

numerous and wide ranging in nature to ignore. Very often officers speak of having to explain

the same issue relating to their custom, culture or religion over and over again i.e. where

individuals were born, which area they live, what they eat, how they dress, how they speak,

where they socialise, place of worship, how they worship.

In the normal course of events in spite of the cumulative effect of such examples of unwitting

prejudice, everyday interactions can be helpful in terms of building an inclusionary workforce

that values diversity, many of these interactions fall within this category of personal and

organisational learning however a great many are problematic in that they are clearly based

on or eventually lead to racist stereotyping.

Thoughtlessness

Respect for diversity has for many years been one of the core competencies for police

employees in the UK, however examples of lack of consideration & appropriate sensitivity

given to BAME staff in terms of their particular customs and cultures have been numerous.

Ten years ago the Stephen Lawrence Ministerial Priority set out clearly the notion that by

treating everyone the same can on occasions lead to discrimination.

Racist Stereotyping

In one submission to the Mc Pherson Inquiry Professor Robin Oakley21 commented that

“Police work, unlike most other professional activities, has the capacity to bring officers into

contact with a skewed cross-section of society, with the well-recognised potential for

21Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report [Dr Robin Oakley]

21

producing negative stereotypes of particular groups. Such stereotypes become the common

currency of the police occupational culture. If the predominantly white staff of the police

organisation have their experience of visible minorities largely restricted to interactions with

such groups, then negative racial stereotypes will tend to develop accordingly."

Many examples of old stereotypes such as being aggressive, lazy, incompetent, dishonest,

deceptive, fraudulent, deviant, uncouth, unclean, unpatriotic, disloyal all appear in the

narratives of black staff. This is not an exhaustive account however the prevalence of such

powerfully preconceived notions within the organisation is clearly problematic.

Other peculiar stereotypical notions have emerged over time through narratives, most

notably the notion that BAME staff are treated more favourably than white members of staff,

this appears to have contributed to the phenomenon of members of staff being subjected to

unwarranted pressure which potentially leads to unlawful acts of discrimination. One officer’s

narrative appears to underpin this argument;

“I found that I had to work much harder than others to get by day by day and to be

recognised. I felt I was continually reminded of my ethnicity. I feel that I am seen as a

problem for the majority [white officers] as an obstacle in their progression and I feel that I

can be used at any time as an excuse for their lacking abilities. I do feel that I am looked at

as being favoured although it is not the case quite clearly”

22

Summary / Conclusions

The limitation of this work lies in the fact that it is the subjective view of Black Police

Associations across the UK many of which have set the agenda in terms of issues

concerning race in the criminal justice system. However it can equally be argued that these

BPA perspectives represent the most authoritative and qualitative source of data in terms of

gaining reliable insight as to the true extent of progress on race issues within the Police

Service.

This has proven to be the case In relation to the Bristol Seminars22 The seminal BPA written

and oral submission to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and subsequent submissions to The

Commission for Racial Equality’s [CRE] Formal Investigation into the Police, the Morris

Inquiry and more recently Metropolitan Police Authority’s Race & Faith Inquiry.

The analysis paints a picture of inconsistency across the country in relation to the

implementation of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Recommendations as highlighted in this

report. Forces have found the Diversity agenda [important as it is] a convenient cover to

avoid tackling difficult race issues.

Professional Standards Departments in many Force areas have now effectively become the

showground in which race politics are being played out where black members of staff are

falling victim in a climate of high suspicion and mistrust.

22Bristol Seminars…

23

APENDIX A

Dear BPA Colleague

This year marks the 10th Anniversary of the NBPA launch and also the 10th Anniversary of the

publication of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report. This is no coincidence as the issues around the

Lawrence Campaign were a major driving force behind the formation of the National Network, which

became the NBPA.

Earlier this year a Government sponsored conference was held to mark the Publication of the

Lawrence report and to review progress. This conference was attended by the NBPA and by some

local BPA representatives from across the country.

I have been commissioned by the NBPA to carry out a National Research Project on the perspectives

of local associations regarding progress on the recommendations from the Lawrence Report.

In order to keep this process as simple as possible and to get a good qualitative sense of the relevant

issues I have focussed on seven [7] themes from the seventy recommendations and formulated them

into questions. Please feel free to use examples from the cases you have been involved with or know

of locally and any relevant statistics to support your responses, stick to the issues local to your force

[keep it simple] In addition to this data there is an additional question on the issue of Institutional

Racism which we are asking you to consider and respond to.

This information will enable us as a National Organisation to have a clearer perspective on these

issues and help to inform our Annual Conference in the autumn of this year.

Complete and return by email to charles.crichlow@gmp.police.uk

If you have any difficulty with this process please contact me via email or call me on 07899946561

and I will be happy to talk through the process with you. Look forward to receiving your response by

Tuesday July 21st 2009.

Charles CrichlowNBPANEC MEMBER

NEC MEMBER

19th June 2009

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To what extent [if any] has progress been made over the past ten years since the publication

of the Lawrence report in your Force relating to the following?

Trust & Confidence in Police [BME Officers/Staff and BME Community]

[Recommendations 1&2]

Handling of Racist Incidents

[Recommendations [12 to 28]

Family Liason & Dealing with victims and witnesses

[Recommendations 23 to 31]

Racism Awareness and Valuing Cultural Diversity

[Recommendations 48 to 54]

Professional Standards [Employment Discipline & Complaints]

[Recommendations 55 to 59]

Disproportionality in Stop & Search

[Recommendations 60 to 63]

Recruitment Retention and Progression of BME Officers and Staff

[Recommendations 64 to 66]

25

Lawrence Definition of Institutional Racism: The collective failure of an organisation to provide an

appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin."It can be

seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting

prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic

people."

To what extent [if any] does your force fit the Lawrence definition of being

Institutionally Racist? Please provide evidence to support your argument either

way.

Name

Job Title

BPA

Contact Details

Address

Telephone

26

One Voice Strength in Unity