Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of ...

Ev w66 Home Affairs Committee: Evidence
28. HMCIC, op. cit. 5, p. 14.
9 September 2011
Written evidence submitted by the Derby West Indian Community Association
The initial reaction to the disturbances in the inner cities across England, triggered by the killing of Mark
Duggan has been dominated by commentators and politicians espousing the predictable views linking the
disturbances to wanton criminality on the one hand or the disturbances being seen as a reasoned response to
the coalition government’s “scorched earth for the poor” policies on the other. Also, there has been an evocation
of a “moral panic” through the framing of young people as socially problematic.
Of significance, is also the lack of attention to voices of young people and their relationship with the wider
society in which they belong.
We write as a coalition of Black organisations within the city of Derby, which exemplify the historical local
Black community’s concern with the welfare of young black people. This engagement involves building social
and emotional support, resilience and access to a wider source of help, with the central purpose of reducing
the risks of social exclusion amongst young black people.
Derby experienced few, if any, disturbances during the period of social unrest across England. Within this
there is a need to acknowledge that this situation may have been partly linked to the important role played by
organisations such as ours in tackling some of the deep seated problems in communities that the riots/social
unrests have highlighted. Integral to our work, is to give a voice and a sense of purpose for young people/
young adults in our community.
In our submission we wish to draw attention to the plight of young black people in England today and the
need for their situation to be considered in attempts to identify measures to address recent events and associated
policy-making and service delivery.
Ultimately, our purpose is to ensure that central government, local government and the third sector (ie
community/voluntary organisations) work in partnership to align activity to maximise the advantage of local
communities to deliver on their missions to create public good via their work with young people, much more
fully and lastingly.
Contextualising Inequality and Social Exclusion in the Lives of Young Black People
The social unrest has focused attention on social mobility and inequality. Social mobility strategy is a central
plank of the coalition government’s policy.
One of the many postings on the Social Media concerning the reasons for the social unrests, referred to the
African proverb:
“If the young are not initiated into the village they will burn it down just to feel its warmth.”
In contextualising the lives of young black people in England the statistics suggests that there is a distinctive
lack of “warmth” from the wider society if you are young and black. Indeed, a recent study conducted by the
Public Policy Research (IPPR, 2009) 63 stated that 48% of black people aged 16 to 24 reported that they were
out of work, compared with 20% of white people of the same age. Further, the study revealed that not only
had the absolute level of unemployment risen for young people, as a group, but as a group they suffered the
sharpest level of joblessness: black unemployment has jumped 13% since 2008, compared with 8% among
white people and 6% among Asians.
Research evidence suggests that despite underperformance in education among young black people, they are
more likely to stay in full-time education beyond the age 16 compared to white young people. Indeed, Wright
et al (2010) in “Black Youth Matters: Transitions from School to Success” (2010), 64 raises the issue of how
some individuals overcome their negative school experiences and “succeed” (regarding educational success
and/or success in the labour market).
However, against a background of the withdrawal of the Education Maintenance Allowance for participating
in full-time education beyond 16, and the possible barrier of the increased university tuition fees, there is the
potential of further reducing young black people’s opportunities and adding to a sense of marginalisation and
not having a stake in society.
Further, Wright et al (2005) in a study funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation 65 reported that localised
community programmes such as ours ie those offered by black community organisations, the churches etc play
a pivotal role in ameliorating the effects of social exclusion of young black people. Paradoxically, the
sustainability of many of these organisations is threatened by the reining in of public spending.
63 Institute for Public Policy Research (2009). Black Youth Unemployment, IPPR
64 Wright, C; Standen, P; Patel, T. “Black Youth Matters—Transitions from School to Success” (2010), Routledge, New York.
65 Wright, C, Standen, P, John, G G. German and Patel, T (2005). “School exclusion and transition into Adulthood in African-
Caribbean communities” Joseph Rowntree Foundation