The aim of
this investigation is to explore the extent
to which racial discrimination exists with
the police force. This investigation focuses
largely on communities with origins in the
Indian subcontinent, Africa and the
Caribbean whose experience of policing are
the most frequently researched. One should
point out at this point that there will be
similarities and differences with other
minority groups within the United Kingdom
such as the Irish, Kosovans, Kurds, Turkish,
Cypriot groups and others from Eastern
Europe.
This investigation is divided into five
sections. The first section is a
introduction to concepts such as race and
discrimination and the problems surrounding
their definitions. The second and third
sections form the crux of the investigation
that there is in fact discrimination within
the police. The second section provides an
introduction of how race has developed to
become such a prominent issue within
society. The section then focuses on how
racism has developed and has been exposed
within the police through various reports.
One also explores how racism within the
police is still prominent today despite the
condemnation of various reports and the
apparent changes.
The third section looks in more detail about how police powers have developed namely under PACE and how racism has been reflected in the use of their individuals discretion in terms of stop and search and arrest data. This section also explores the notion of a police culture of racism within the police force itself. Police culture as a whole is an expansive topic and thus for the purposes of this dissertation one will only draw upon aspects relevant to determining racism.
The fourth
section examines alternative explanations to
the argument that racial discrimination
exists within the force and is then
reflected on ethnic minority groups. This
section draws upon the argument the police
culture of racism is merely a canteen
culture which does not effect police at a
street level. It also explores the notion
that disproportionately of ethnic minorities
within police statistics can be explained
for reasons other than police racism. The
final section will draw together the main
points put forward during this investigation
and enables a conclusion to be drawn.
Before we go onto explore the extent to
which racism exists within the police force
it is necessary to determine what is meant
by the phrase racial discrimination. In
general terms discrimination refers to
‘unfavourable treatment based on a person’s
sex, gender, race, ethnicity, culture,
religion, language, class, sexual
preference, age or physical disability[1]’.
It restricts the individuals or groups
‘economic, social and political
opportunities’ and in many situations exists
‘defacto, in spite of the laws intended to
prevent its occurrence[2]’.
In this case the emphasis is on racial
discrimination within the police force.
Discrimination can either be in the form of
direct discrimination or indirect
discrimination. Direct discrimination can be
seen as that which has been established
through the law; a good example of this
would be the apartheid legal system in South
Africa. Direct discrimination within many
criminal justice agencies including the
police led to restrictions on employment
which was often referred to as the colour
bar. In contrast, indirect discrimination
refers to treatment which might be perceived
as ‘equal in a formal sense between
different groups, but is discriminatory in
its effect on a particular group’[3]. A
recent example of this was the minimum
height requirement to join the police force
which was indirectly discriminating against
women and ethnic minorities and has
subsequently been withdrawn.
The term race is used to describe natural,
biological differences of people from
different cultural backgrounds. Kleg 1993
defines racism as ‘the belief that certain
groups are innately, biologically, socially,
morally superior to other groups, based upon
what is attributed to their racial
composition[4]. The problem with using race
as a definition is that ‘race is
fundamentally a biological concept and is
often thought of a signifier of genetic
difference’[5]. In addition to this, there
is no universally agreed definition for the
term race, which creates problems when
trying to compare and contrast researchers
work. As a consequence of this the term
ethnicity has instead been used as a
descriptive and analytical term.
Ethnicity characterises an ethnic group and
their cultural differences, which people
ascribe themselves to. The term is used to
describe difference in groups such as
language, faith, shared traditions, culture,
geographic origin and migratory status[6].
Kelg 1993 highlights that an ethnic group
consists of ‘individuals who share a
distinct culture and are bound together by
ties of cultural homogeneity that result in
a common way of perceiving, thinking,
feeling and interacting with reality’[7].
However, there are problems associated with
the use of the term ethnicity. Firstly, as
with race there is no universal definition
and secondly, Gilroy argues that ‘the term
will simply become a euphemism for race’[8].
Bowling and Coretta Phillips suggest that
the problem remains when using ethnicity to
analyze crime and justice issues that
‘undifferentiated white, black and Asian
categories are used thereby concealing
ethnicities based on national, regional,
class or other identities’[9].
It should also be noted that crime is
notoriously difficult to define. What is
lawful in England might be criminal in
another country or made illegal in England
in the future. The focus of the criminal
justice systems has often been on crimes
committed by the powerless such as street
crime rather than on the crimes of the
powerful such as fraud, environmental crime
and white collar crime. These crimes often
form part of the dark figure of crime known
as hidden crime which is often undetected
and unreported.
In addition to this, on 15th March 2007 a former Sussex detective left the police force ‘to lift the lid on the pressure police are under to massage their crime detection figures. Johnno Mills stated that ‘the Home Office target and diction-driven culture was influencing the way officers worked’ with officers attending jobs thinking ‘What can I get out of this to make it look as if I am productive. Although this is only evidence from one detective one feels that this highlights the fact that when analysing statistics produced by the police and government one must do so with caution. After obtaining a greater understanding of what is meant by the terms race and discrimination and the problems surrounding the interpretation of crime figures one can now explore how this is reflected within the police force.
To return to the menu page click here: Police Information
To move on to the next part of the investigation click here: Part 1
