Let's get it right: race and justice 2000 - Nacro

Let’sget itrightRace and Justice 2000NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE CARE AND RESETTLEMENT OF OFFENDERS

POLICE AND PEOPLEIN LONDONII A group of youngblack peoplePrison DisturbancesApril 1990Report of an InquirybyStephen SmallTHE RT HON LORDJUSTICE WOOLFPARTS I and IIandHIS HON JUDGESTEPHEN TUMINPARTS IIPSI Policy Studies InstituteNovember 1983NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE CARE AND RESETTLEMENT OF OFFENDERS169 Clapham Road, London SW9 0PUTelephone 0171 582 6500 Fax 0171 735 4666Nacro contact details are now:Park Place10-12 Lawn LaneLondon SW8 1UDTelephone 020 7840 7220 Fax 020 7840 7240www.nacro.org.uk

ContentsForeword page 21 A decade of progress? page 42 NACRO’s work on race and criminal justice page 93 Commitment from the top page 114 Research and ethnic monitoring page 135 Employment and training page 206 Suspects and defendants page 287 After sentence: prisons and probation services page 408 Victims of crime page 479 After the watershed: 2000 and beyond page 5510 Summary of action points page 59Bibliography page 62NACRO Race Issues Advisory Committee inside back coverAcknowledgementsThe Chairman and Race AdvisoryCommittee would like to acknowledgethe members of the Race and CriminalJustice Unit, and particularly Anne Dunn,in compiling this report.

Let’s get it rightForewordby LORD DHOLAKIA OBEChair of NACROChair of Race Issues Advisory CommitteeThis is the first major report from NACRO’s Race IssuesAdvisory Committee since 1993. It comes at a time whenrace and criminal justice has a high profile.Since the publication in February 1999 of the StephenLawrence Inquiry Report, there has been an acceptance –by Government, by senior police officers, by the leadersof the other criminal justice agencies, and even to someextent by the public - that drastic change is needed. Faithand trust in British justice has been damaged enormously.The damage must be repaired.There have been more reports, more action, and more newpolicies over the past 12 months than in the 12 yearsbefore that. We have a new high level government forumon race issues; we have new legislation to deal with racistcrime; there is new training for police officers; newguidance on racist crime; new targets for recruiting – andkeeping – more black and Asian police; and a new policedisciplinary code to deal with officers who do not meetthese new high standards.Why is this? After Lord Scarman’s report into thedisturbances in Brixton and elsewhere in 1981 we werepromised change. Indeed, to be fair, there have beenmany, many important developments since then, and ourreport described the major milestones of recent years.But somehow, the real impetus for change was lost;events of the early 1980s faded from memory; criminaljustice faded from public view. Crime, however, and fearof crime, became a major public preoccupation. Did thisfear of crime help to demonise certain groups in thepublic mind? We are all familiar with the image of theuncontrollable pre-teens stealing car after car on deprivedestates; we are all familiar with the portrayal of ‘muggers’as being, on the whole, young black men; we are familiarwith the derogatory terminology of ‘rat boys’, the barelyconcealedmessage of ‘bogus asylum seekers’. Thesemessages help us identify people to blame instead ofmaking us look for solutions.As Wilfred Wood, Bishop of Croydon, wrote recently:‘My personal belief is that a Macpherson typeenquiry into any of the professions – education,2

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000trade unions, political parties, Parliament, law,medicine, broadcasting, the church, civil service,etc – would have revealed much the same state ofaffairs, in similar devaluing of people.’There has been positive change in recent years which Iwelcome. Many people have quietly and determinedlypersisted in their commitment to equality in theadministration of justice, whatever the pressures to avoid‘political correctness’ and to put race on the back burner.But what has not changed, apparently, is street levelcontacts between the police and black communities. Thesimilarities between some of the Scarman and Lawrencefindings are startling and extremely disheartening.Statistics continue to show more black people than whitebeing stopped and searched, from the 1983 Policy StudiesInstitute’s report to the present day.What has not changed is the high proportion of blackpeople in prison – women as well as men.What changed a little (but not nearly enough!) is the lowproportion of black people working as police and prisonofficers, judges or magistrates.And although we see commitment to change for the betterat the highest levels, I wonder whether the need fororganisational change is really accepted further down,where it really matters. The nature of those contacts atlocal level – not only with the police, but with the CPSand the courts, the legal professions and the prison andprobation services – is the real test. We have not passedthat test.It has taken the tragic death of a young man to shock thesystem into action. Action is needed, as the InquiryReport tells us, from all the agencies and professionalbodies in the system, not only the police. The police havegot off to a flying start, which the others must follow. Andit is just a start. The momentum, the impetus, must not belost this time around.Let’s get it right this time.3

Let’s get it rightCHAPTER1A decade ofprogress?‘Fairness and justice are inseparableand a major task for the criminaljustice system is to ensure full equalityof treatment for all.’Rt Hon Lord Justice RoseChairCriminal Justice Consultative CouncilThirteen years ago, NACRO’s Race Issues AdvisoryCommittee published its first report. The committee hadbeen established in 1983. Its remit was not only toidentify but also to eliminate racial discrimination in thecriminal justice system. An ambitious objective indeed.The 1986 report, ‘Black People in the Criminal JusticeSystem’, concluded:‘Discrimination in the criminal justice system isparticularly disastrous since the system is one ofthe bedrocks on which our society is based. Itmust be seen to be fair to all sections of thecommunity in the way it works, and unless this isthe case, it will not have the confidence of thewhole population.‘Young people, particularly young black people,become cynical about and alienated from thesystem that is supposed to protect them as equallyas it protects other members of society. Theirrespect for the law disappears, and the temptationto disregard the law increases.’Much has been achieved since then. Subsequent reports in1989, 1992 and 1993 recorded the progress made by thedifferent organisations and professional bodies whichmake up our complex criminal justice system. Theycovered implementation of race equality policies in termsof recruitment, promotion and fair employment practices;the quality of services provided to the public; and equaltreatment training.By now, it is fairly standard to have a written raceequality policy in place. Many organisations include astatement to the effect that they are an equal opportunitiesemployer in their recruitment literature. Many providesome form of equal opportunities training to their staff.But all these efforts are still having limited effect atground level.When he spoke at a NACRO conference in Leeds in1995, the former Lord Chief Justice, the late Lord Taylorof Gosforth, said:‘Race issues go to the heart of our system ofjustice, which demand that all are treated as equalsbefore the law. This is recognised not only in thestandard embodiment of justice as a figureblindfolded, but also in the terms of the judicialoath.4

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 1 A DECADE OF PROGRESS?‘It is therefore a matter of the gravest concern ifmembers of the ethnic minorities feel they arediscriminated against by the criminal justicesystem; more so if their fears were to be borne outin reality.’The black community is far from the point of havingconfidence in the fairness of the justice system. There isthe perceived unfairness in the treatment of young blackmen on the street – disproportionately represented amongthose stopped and searched by the police; criticisms of theway the system deals with black victims of crime; and itis still hard for black people to make successful careers inthe criminal justice agencies – especially at senior levels.According to a 1997 report from Helsinki Human RightsWatch, the United Kingdom has one of the highest levelsof recorded racial attacks in the whole of Europe. But aslong as 40 years ago, when sentencing nine young menconvicted for assaulting black people in Notting Hill,Lord Justice Salmon said:‘You are a minute and insignificant section of thepopulation who have brought shame on the districtin which you live and have filled the whole nationwith horror, indignation and disgust. Everyoneirrespective of the colour of their skin is entitledto walk through our streets with their heads erectand free from fear. This is a right which thesecourts will unfailingly uphold.’In June 1997, 19% of the prison population came fromminority groups – up 2% on the previous year – comparedto 5.8% of the general population. Little has changed heresince 1986 when 16% of men and 22% of women inprison were from minority groups. Home Office figurespublished in 1998 showed that black people were, onaverage, five times more likely to be stopped andsearched by the police than white people.There are still no black chief constables or chief probationofficers. There is one minority prison governing governor,only five minority Crown Court judges out of 561, noblack justices’ chief executives. There are seriousconcerns about black deaths in police custody - of the 260deaths in police custody between 1990 and 1996, whereethnicity was recorded, 7% were black detainees, 3%were Asian and 3% were of another ethnic origin. Themost recent figures show that eight (12%) of the 69people who died in police custody between April 1997and March 1998 were black (three deaths), Asian (fourdeaths) or from another minority ethnic group (one death).In 1996 and 1997, 15 people from minority groups died inprison.There has been a series of deaths among those seekingasylum in the UK. In 1987, Ahmed Katangole died inPentonville prison; in 1989 Siholyig ven and in 1991Kumpua Nsimba both died in Harmondsworth detentioncentre. In 1991, Omasse Lumumba died in Pentonvillewhile being restrained by officers in a strip cell.Two years later Joy Gardner died while being restrainedby police and immigration officers who were trying todeport her. These high profile cases further damage theperception of justice. More recently, the Immigration andAsylum Bill, currently in Parliament, and the ceaselessmedia references to ‘bogus asylum seekers’ send a generalmessage that ‘outsiders’ are not wanted.Britain is a modern European state with a rich and diversepopulation. Half of the minority population was born inthis country and three-quarters are British nationals. Outof Britain’s 56 million population, just one million peopleare black, 1,700,000 are Asian and another 500,000 comefrom other racial minority communities. Despite thesesmall numbers and the length of time that minoritycommunities have been settled here, a European Unionpoll to mark the end of the 1997 European Year AgainstRacism found that 8% of Britons classed themselves asvery racist and a further 24% as quite racist. The surveyinvolved 16,000 people in the 15 member states in 1997.In June 1997, the Office for National Statistics (ONS)reported that almost one child in Britain in every 10 isblack or Asian.What is the future for those children? In 1994, the DfEEreported that African Caribbean boys, who accounted for2% of the school population, accounted for 8% of thoseexcluded from school. Despite this, 51% of AfricanCaribbeans stay on in full-time education after 16, as do67% of Asian young people, compared to only 35% ofwhite youngsters.For those who leave full-time education, prospects arebleak. The 1994 Labour Force Survey reported that 51%of young black men aged between 16 and 24 wereunemployed compared to 18% of young white men. InLondon that year, 62% - six out of every 10 – youngblack men were out of work. And according to thehousing charity Centrepoint, about half of the homeless5

Let’s get it rightyoung people on the streets in London are from minoritygroups.According to the British Crime Survey, in 1995 one-thirdof respondents had some form of police initiated contact –but this rose to 56% among young men and 44% of theunemployed. In the 16-25 age group, 47% of young whitemen and 53% of young African Caribbean men had beenstopped by the police in the previous year.The criminal justice system needs the faith andconfidence of these young people – to report crimes, toact as witnesses, to take part in community crimeprevention programmes, and to seek careers in theorganisations and professions concerned. A 1994 PolicyStudies Institute survey of 16- and 17-year olds in 34urban schools asked whether the young people thoughtjudges and courts gave fair and equal treatment toeveryone. Only one in 12 of the young black respondentsand only a quarter of the young white respondents saidyes. Over a third of the young black people (37%) saidthat ‘if I witness a crime I keep my mouth shut because Idon’t want to become involved’, compared to 19% ofyoung white people (‘Changing Lives 3’).It is not only young people who hold such attitudes. In1995 the black newspaper the ‘Weekly Journal’commissioned a survey of 1,870 black people over theage of 16 in different parts of the country. 78% of therespondents believed that the police would treat a caseinvolving a white victim more seriously than oneinvolving a black victim. 63% felt that relations betweenthe black community and the police had worsened overthe past 10 years; only 12% would consider joining thepolice; and 92% thought that the police treated blackpeople worse than they treated white people.In 1997, 18% of the 18,453 complaints made to the PoliceComplaints Authority were from racial minoritycomplainants.The criminal justice system does not work in isolationfrom the wider community. Employers, local authorities,educational institutions and training providers have aresponsibility to work with the police, courts, prison andprobation services to widen opportunity, prevent crimeand deal fairly with offenders from all communities. Thiswas recognised almost two decades ago by Lord Scarman,when he reported on the disturbances in Brixton and othercities in 1981:‘I identify the social problem as that of thedifficulties, social and economic, which beset theethnically diverse communities who live and workin our inner cities. These are difficulties for whichthe police bear no responsibility, save as citizenslike the rest of us. But, unless the police adjusttheir policies and operations so as to handle thesedifficulties with imagination as well as firmness,they will fail. And disorder will become a diseaseendemic in our society.’Similar links were made by Metropolitan PoliceCommissioner Paul Condon 15 years later. LaunchingOperation Eagle Eye – a strategy to tackle street robbery– he said that ‘very many of the perpetrators of muggingare very young people who have been excluded fromschool and/or are unemployed’.The wider context in which the criminal justice systemoperates has long been recognised. It seems to be muchharder to bridge the gap between local communities andtheir criminal justice systems – not only the police, butalso the CPS, the courts and the prison and probationservices. The new provisions in the Crime and DisorderAct 1998 for local authority and police partnerships indevising crime and disorder strategies will create astructure to tackle this. This opportunity to encouragemore consultation and communication must not be lost.Local communities would welcome more involvement.Even young people – often perceived as alienated anduninterested in local politics – would become involved ifgiven the chance. For example, in 1996 the BreakFreeProject in Tottenham held a conference for young blackmen which was attended by senior local police officers.Fifty-one participants completed questionnaires aboutprovision of local services – policing, education, housingand other local authority services. They were also askedwhether they would like more say in how these serviceswere provided. 40% of the under-16s said they would, asdid 68% of the 16-24 year olds. However none of theunder 16s and only 20% of the 16-24 year olds felt theywould be able to make their voices heard. New localpartnerships need to find innovative ways to tap thevoices of young people like this and ensure they areheard.It is not only young people who need to be heard. Womenare a minority in the criminal justice system – asoffenders and as professional staff. Their particularcircumstances are frequently overlooked as they have to6

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER A DECADE OF PROGRESS?be accommodated in a system designed to cater for themajority of men. Women from racial minorities are evenmore a forgotten group.There is very little research on the impact of the criminaljustice system on black and Asian women, even though ithas been known for some time that even when womenfrom abroad are not included, black women are seriouslyover-represented in the prison population in proportion totheir numbers in the community. There has been littleexploration of underlying reasons for this and the extentto which a double discrimination may be in operation.It is not even easy to get at basic statistics because themajority of offenders are men. Most criminal statisticsrelate to them. When figures are broken down by race,they often ignore gender. What is happening to blackwomen as victims of crime, or as senior workers in therelevant organisations?The inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence was asignificant milestone. When a tabloid newspaper, the‘Daily Mail’, joined the campaign for an inquiry, itbrought the death of Stephen Lawrence – and the wholequestion of racist attacks – to a far wider audience thanever before. From an event seen as affecting only a smallproportion in the community – as other deaths had beenviewed – the Mail ensured every parent could relate to theagony of Mr and Mrs Lawrence.The power of the media has not always been used to suchgood effect in terms of race and criminal justice. From thedemonisation of Winston Silcott in 1985 – later foundinnocent of the murder at Broadwater Farm of PCBlakelock – by means of continued use of a frighteningphotograph, to the high profile given to the murder by agroup of Asian young men of a young white boy, RichardEveritt, to, very recently, an extremely sensationalisedtelevision programme about gang rapes carried out byblack boys – based on very scanty evidence – the mediahas tended to either trivialise crimes against minoritycommunities or sensationalise crimes committed by blackor Asian people.Human rightsThe incorporation of the European Convention on HumanRights into UK law is of crucial importance. The HumanRights Act 1998, which will come into force in the year2000, makes it unlawful for public authorities – includingcriminal justice agencies – to act in a way which isincompatible with a Convention right.Article 14 states:‘Prohibition of discrimination: the enjoyment ofthe rights and freedoms set forth in thisConvention shall be secured withoutdiscrimination on any ground such as sex, race,colour, language, religion, political or otheropinion, national or social origin, association witha national minority, property, birth or other status.’The Human Rights Act will shift the emphasis in the wayrace and criminal justice is approached. A new approachbased on rights – rights to freedom of movement, to fairtrial, to defence from racial attack and harassment, toprotection from the police and to safer communities forall – which can be enforced in the courts is likely todevelop as individuals test the application of the Act incourt.Instead of talking of the need to restore confidence incriminal justice and its fairness, a new approach may bethrough the courts, backed by heavy costs for criminaljustice agencies found to be at fault.This implies a more fundamental conceptual change. Todate, discussion of race and criminal justice is usuallypresented in terms of problems – problems caused by thenature of minority communities. Minority communitiespresent a ‘problem’ for the police as they require moresensitive policing, for example. Or, as CommissionerCondon noted, young black people are becoming involvedin crime because of the problems of unemployment andschool exclusions. Black communities face the ‘problem’of increased risk of being victims of crime as well asbeing victims of racial attacks. Black staff have additional‘problems’ in reaching senior positions in the criminaljustice professions.This thinking puts the responsibility for the problem ‘outthere’ in the communities concerned. It turns thosecommunities into passive victims. It does not examine thenature of the organisations concerned – their cultures,their working methods, their long-standing traditions – tosee whether they could be part of both the ‘problem’ andthe solution. This approach is at the root of the currentdebate – raised by the inquiry into the death of StephenLawrence – about institutional racism.7

The Stephen LawrenceInquiry ReportIn the last year of the millennium, the report of theInquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence paints acomprehensive picture of what can and did go wrong inthe way the criminal justice system responded to the racistmurder of a young man. It has implications not only forthe police, but for all criminal justice agencies. Accordingto the report:‘There is a striking and inescapable need todemonstrate fairness, not just by Police Services,but across the criminal justice system as a whole,in order to generate trust and confidence withinminority ethnic communities, who undoubtedlyperceive themselves to be discriminated against by“the system”. Just as justice needs to be “seen tobe done” so fairness must be “seen to bedemonstrated” in order to generate trust.’ ( 46.30)Repairing the damageThe Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report offers newopportunities for the criminal justice system to:nnnrepair the damage to community relationsbuild bridges to local communitiespromote openness and accountabilityover the past decade in the main criminal justice agencies.It also looks at the role of the voluntary sector – victimsupport groups and local community organisations - andhow they can contribute in partnership with statutorybodies.What progress has been made? What has been achieved interms of community confidence in crime prevention,community safety and a fair delivery of justice to allmembers of diverse, modern Britain?At the 1997 Labour Party conference, Prime Minister,Tony Blair said:‘We cannot be a beacon to the world unless thetalents of all the people shine through. Not oneblack high court judge; not one black chiefconstable or permanent secretary; not one blackarmy officer above the rank of colonel. Not oneAsian either. Not a record of pride for the Britishestablishment. And not a record of pride forParliament, that there are so few black and AsianMPs.’Despite all the work and all the efforts made by policeand other criminal justice organisations since the Scarmanreport, the impetus has been lost and opportunities havenot been grasped as fully as they should have been.The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report gives us a newchance.ndevelop partnerships with the wider communityIt is a rare opportunity. It must be taken.and‘… to produce a criminal justice service which isaccessible and acceptable throughout to all thosewho experience it’. (46.37)A fresh approach, based on the insistence of fundamentalhuman rights which are internationally recognised, andthe underlying spirit of the Stephen Lawrence InquiryReport, can tackle the structural inequalities and injusticesthat remain all too apparent in the administration ofjustice - without turning local communities into powerlessvictims.This reportAs the millennium approaches, this report suggests howto move forwards, and how to build on key developments8

CHAPTER2NACRO’s workon race andcriminal justiceThe Race Issues Advisory Committee (RIAC) bringstogether senior criminal justice practitioners at nationallevel to identify problem areas and develop policyproposals. Its chair since 1989 has been Lord DholakiaOBE. Before that the late Clem Richards JP was the chair.Because of its strong and high level membership theCommittee has been able to draw on experience andexpertise from across the whole range of the criminaljustice system, including civil servants, professionalbodies, Victim Support and the Commission for RacialEquality as well as the statutory agencies. A list of presentmembers is given at the back.It has produced these reports:n Black People and the Criminal Justice System, 1986n Race and Criminal Justice: a Way Forward, 1989nBlack Communities and the Probation Service:Working Together for Change, 1991n Black People’s Experience of Criminal Justice, 1991nBlack People Working in the Criminal Justice System,1992n Race Policies into Action, 1992n Race and Criminal Justice: Training, 1993n Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, 1993A newsletter, ‘Race Policies Into Action’ to disseminateinformation and promote good practice, is sent to over1,500 criminal justice practitioners.The 1989 report said:‘The production of statements and codes ofpractice … are very much a first step, a necessaryprerequisite to implementation.‘It is very hard to move to the point where equalopportunities work is embedded in structures,taken for granted as part of every day routines andshifted from being the property of the enthusiaststo being an accepted part of professionalism.’The next step was to translate national policyrecommendations into action at a local level: in localpolice stations and courts, area probation offices, CPSbranches, prison landings and in services for victims andwitnesses.9

The NACRO Race and Criminal Justice Unit was createdin 1993 to work with inter-agency groups at local level. Itis Home Office funded. Four local inter-agency groupswere established, to mirror the national committee andwhose members would have the authority to implementthe national policy recommendations in their areas andorganisations.The Inner London RIAC was chaired by Sylvia Denman,OBE, a lawyer and a former member of the CriminalJustice Consultative Council. In 1996 this committeeexpanded to cover Greater London. It continues to meet,now chaired by John Walters, Chief Probation Officer inMiddlesex. It is about to publish an action plan for workover the coming year, taking into account recent majordevelopments such as the Stephen Lawrence InquiryReport.The Leeds committee was also formed in 1993. Itpublished an interim report in 1995 and then expanded tobecome the West Yorkshire Race Advisory Group. It ischaired by the Chief Probation Officer for West Yorkshire,Anne Mace. The Surrey committee continued until 1998,chaired by David Allonby OBE, of the Central ProbationCouncil. The fourth local committee, in Leicester, met forthree years, chaired by the Rt Rev Tom Butler, (then)Bishop of Leicester. It also produced a report, and linksmade with the Race and Criminal Justice Unit aremaintained.In 1996, the Unit was given a new remit: to work moredirectly with the 23 Area Criminal Justice LiaisonCommittees (ACJLCs) to help them to take forward the50 recommendations in the 1993 Criminal JusticeConsultative Council report on race and criminal justice –described in more detail in the next chapter.The Unit is working with the Area Committees inMerseyside, Greater Manchester, SouthYorkshire/Humberside, West Midlands, South and SouthWest Wales, Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall,Kent and East and West Sussex, Thames Valley, andHertfordshire and Bedfordshire. In addition, the NACROcommittees in London and West Yorkshire act in anadvisory capacity to their respective Area Committees.training, ethnic monitoring, and community links. Basedon this and on discussions in the area, an action plan –with a time limit for achieving it – is drawn up. Someactivities involve inter-agency work, and some aretargetted at particular agencies. In some areas smaller subgroupshave been formed to implement the action plansand report back to the full committee. Where possible, theUnit helps local agencies with particular aspects of thework and offers general advice and consultation on policyimplementation.This work at Area Committee level has helped the Unit tobuild up a good picture of what is being done in terms ofrace policy in major cities with large minoritycommunities and also, importantly, in rural areas withsmall and often isolated minority populations which areoften at particular risk of racial harassment.The Race and Criminal Justice Unit has delivered tailormadetraining to magistrates, magistrates’ courts’ staff andCrown Court staff; to the Crown Prosecution Service inLondon (which was then adopted nationally by the CPS),for probation hostel staff, prison boards of visitors, and ina local prison for prison officers. It produced an EqualTreatment Training pack for lay magistrates,commissioned by the Judicial Studies Board EqualTreatment Advisory Committee. The Unit also conductedan evaluation of an experiment on stop and search inTottenham, commissioned by the Haringey Communityand Police Consultative Committee.This range of work at national and local level forms abasis for much of the analysis in this report. Observationsabout progress and new areas to be tackled are stronglyrooted in this practical work with criminal justiceagencies around the country. Examples of good practicefrom local Area Committee work are also included.Because this work is intended to be tailor-made to fitlocal circumstances, it has taken a different shape in eachregion. As a general rule, the first step is to conduct anaudit of current work on race issues. This includesemployment practices, services to local communities,10

CHAPTER3Commitmentfrom the topOne of the most important developments of the decadewas the creation in 1993 of the Criminal JusticeConsultative Council (CJCC) and 23 Area CriminalJustice Liaison Committees. The establishment of a coordinatingstructure for the criminal justice system was amajor recommendation of the report by Lord JusticeWoolf into the Strangeways prison disturbance of 1991.One of the first topics that the new Council looked at wasrace and the criminal justice system. A sub-group on raceissues was established, chaired by Her Honour JudgeElizabeth Fisher. Based on a paper from Council memberSylvia Denman OBE, it produced a report with 50detailed recommendations covering the work of all theagencies in the criminal justice system; research andethnic monitoring; training; and the functioning of thecommittees themselves.This sent a clear signal from the top that equality in theadministration of justice really matters. It was reinforcedby Lord Justice Rose, chair of the CJCC, when he spokeat a NACRO conference in London in 1996, at a timewhen he was having some fairly public disagreementswith the Home Secretary (of that time) about othermatters:‘Contrary to the impression given by some reportsin the media, there are issues about which theHome Secretary and I agree. Prominent amongthem is race. Both of us are determined to do allwe can to remove from the criminal justice systemactual and perceived racial discrimination,wherever it may be found.’Area Committees - chaired by judges - have worked sincethen to put the 50 recommendations into effect. Manyrecommendations have been achieved and race equality isfirmly on the agenda at regional and chief officer level.Discussions are now under way about increasing thenumber of Area Committees to 42, to bring them into linewith police areas and the new CPS boundaries. This morelocalised perspective would allow the committees to playa stronger role in promoting community partnerships andencouraging consistency of standards of services.In the coming months, the CJCC will need to give a newlead and new impetus to Area Committees to continue todevelop their work on race issues. The Crime andDisorder Act 1998 provisions for local communitypartnerships, new racially aggravated offences, and new11

structures for youth justice are crucial areas in which AreaCommittees can play a strong coordinating role. Similarly,the Council and ACJLCs can give a lead on implementingthe Human Rights Act at local level.Race issues must become embedded in the routineagendas of Area Committees, so that the implications areconsidered, whatever the topic under discussion. Thediscussions at senior levels on ACJLCs must be turnedinto action at local and police divisional areas.Area Committees are not well known in theircommunities. They need to adopt a higher profile, andtake a lead in providing information about the localcriminal justice system, how it works, how to complain,how it is accountable to the community. The WestMidlands ACJLC, for example, has published a statementof commitments to race equality from each agency. OtherACJLCs are to publish reports based on the NACROaudits of their work on race issues.At present, Area Committees have no access to resources oftheir own. This needs to be resolved, either by memberagencies pooling funds or seconding staff, or by setting abudget at national level. Some resources are needed so thatACJLCs can undertake pieces of work such as inter-agencytraining, user surveys, or local research or a public event.Race Relations ForumIn May 1998, the Home Secretary announced a new 28member Race Relations Forum to give people fromminority communities a new channel of communication togovernment. It is chaired by the Home Secretary, JackStraw, who said:‘In this country we enjoy many benefits that lifein a multi-cultural society has brought. Much hasbeen achieved. But society is constantlydeveloping and it is vital that we respond tochanges.’Ensuring a fair and non-discriminatory system of justicewill, it is hoped, be a priority for the Forum.Aims and objectives ofthe criminal justice systemIn December 1998, the Home Secretary, the LordChancellor and the Attorney General issued a publicstatement setting out for the first time joint aims andobjectives for the criminal justice system. These include astrong commitment to fairness and justice; one of the twooverarching aims is:‘… to dispense justice fairly and efficiently and topromote confidence in the rule of law’. (‘StrategicPlan for the Criminal Justice System’)Eight objectives support these aims, three of which areparticularly relevant to this report:nnnto meet the needs of victims, witnesses and jurorswithin the system;to respect the rights of defendants and to treat themfairly; andto promote confidence in the criminal justice system.Together with the Human Rights Act, this provides astrong conceptual basis for a fresh approach to achievethe Home Secretary’s aim:‘Fairness of treatment must be right at the heart ofany criminal justice system.’ACTION POINTSnnnnCriminal Justice Consultative Council must give a new lead to Area Criminal Justice LiaisonCommittees on work on race.Crime and Disorder Act, Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report and Human Rights Act must setagenda for Area Committees.Area Committees must raise their profiles in local communities and ensure channels ofcommunication are open.Home Office and Lord Chancellor’s Department must provide more resources to enable ACJLCSto be more proactive at local level.12

CHAPTER4Research andethnicmonitoringResearchThe 1992 report from NACRO’s Race Issues AdvisoryCommittee, ‘Race Policies into Action’, reviewed keyresearch findings about race and criminal justice, andconcluded:‘Because of the mixed results and the differingmethods of the research that has been carried out, itis difficult to identify the extent of discrimination inthe criminal justice system, or the points at which itoccurs. However, the examples above tend tosuggest not that black people are more prone tocommit crime, but that when they do, they are likelyto be treated more harshly, and to receive lessfavourable treatment at the points in the processwhere there is discretion as to further action. Thecumulative effect of this is the grosslydisproportionate black prison population.’Black people are still disproportionately found in theprison population, compared to the general population. In1997, 18% of the men and 25% of the women in prison –almost one in every five prisoners – came from a minoritygroup. Even when foreign nationals are excluded fromthese figures, 14% of men and 16% of women in prisonin 1997 were from minority groups. 10% of maleprisoners and 13% of women prisoners were black,compared to 1.7% of black people over 10 years of age inthe general population.There is no evidence to show that black people commitmore crimes than white people, or to suggest that thisaccounts for the over-representation of racial minoritypopulations in prison. A Home Office research study onself-reported offending among young people found littledifference between patterns of offending among youngwhite and young African Caribbean people, for example.In 1992 a major research study by Dr Roger Hood, whichwas the most thorough and rigourous ever conducted inthis country, looked at what happened at the Crown Courtstage of the criminal justice process.‘Race and Sentencing: A Study in the Crown Court’,looked at the sentences passed in 3,317 cases heard infive Crown Courts in the West Midlands. It found thatwhen a range of over 100 possible legally relevantvariables had been taken into account (previous offences,for example) black defendants stood between five and 8%greater overall chance of an immediate prison sentence13

Let’s get it rightthan white defendants. In cases of medium gravity –where judges have more discretion than in the moreserious cases – the difference was 13%.The research also found differences in non-custodialpenalties. Judges were more likely to choose a ‘hightariff’ alternative to custody for black defendants than forwhites; black adult males were dealt with at a higher pointin the scale of punishments than were whites. NeitherAfrican Caribbean nor Asian defendants were placed onprobation as readily as whites. Partly this was due toprobation officers less readily recommending probation(they recommended probation for 26% of whites, andonly 16% of black and 9% of Asian defendants). Fewerblack defendants had social Inquiry Reports at the time ofsentencing – 42% of black defendants and 43% of Asianscompared to 28% of white offenders were sentencedwithout a social Inquiry Report.The following year, in 1993, Home Office researcherMarian FitzGerald prepared a report, ‘Ethnic Minoritiesand the Criminal Justice System’, for the RoyalCommission on Criminal Justice. It reviewed all availableresearch at the time and concluded:‘The research available addresses many of theconcerns which have been raised by ethnicminorities about their experience of criminaljustice. It does not do so definitively, however, andmany gaps remain. Yet Hood adds weight to theevidence already accumulated which stronglysuggests that, even where differences in social andlegal factors are taken into account, there areethnic differences in outcomes which can only beexplained in terms of discrimination.’The review summarised the research findings relating inparticular to African Caribbeans. It suggested that AfricanCaribbeans, particularly young people, were:more likely to be stopped by the police than whitesmore likely to be arrested (only a small proportion ofthese arrests resulting from stops) than whitesless likely to be cautioned and less likely than Asiansto have no further action taken against themlikely to face a different pattern of charges to thosebrought against whites or Asiansmore likely to plead not guilty to the charges againstthemmore likely to be acquitted-likely to receive more and longer custodial sentences,if found guilty, and a different range of non-custodialdisposals.Entry into the criminal justicesystemThe 1998 Home Office report on ‘Entry into the CriminalJustice System’ summarised the results of a survey of4,250 people held in 10 police stations in 1993/94. Thesurvey aimed to look at the process of arrest andprosecution. It concluded that:‘Members of ethnic minority groups – and blacksuspects in particular – appeared to be dealt withdifferently or responded differently from whitesuspects at a number of points between arrest andconviction. For example, they were on average:more likely to request legal advice; less likely toprovide confessions; less likely to be cautionedand more likely to have no further action takenagainst them by the police; less likely to be bailedafter charge; less likely (where the suspect was ajuvenile) to have their cases referred for interagencyconsultation; and much more likely to havetheir cases terminated by the CPS.’The authors note that other relevant factors may explainsome of the differences but that supervisors shouldexamine specific areas of decision-making carefully.The finding in relation to juveniles is important for theimplementation of the new youth justice system set out inthe Crime and Disorder Act. It will be important that allyoung offenders have equal access to inter-agency youthoffending teams.The research also found difference in the use of stop andsearch powers in that black suspects were less likely to becharged or cautioned when arrested following a stop andsearch and those arrested after a stop and search for stolenproperty were more likely ‘to be NFAed’ – to have nofurther action taken against them. According to the authors:‘These findings need more detailed examination tosee whether they show that stops and subsequentarrests in these circumstances are being made onless than reasonable suspicion or whether there areother explanations.’more likely to be tried at Crown Court14

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH AND ETHNICMONITORINGEthnic monitoring andSection 95 of theCriminal Justice Act 1991‘To paraphrase John Donne, no agency isan island, entire of itself; any one’sfailure will diminish all the others,because they are all involved in the samesystem. We must not for this reasondecline to send to know for whom thebell tolls. On the contrary what weprincipally suffer is a lack of hardinformation which would allow us toknow where, and to what extent, racialdiscrimination is present. I would like toemphasise the importance I attach to[the CJCC] recommendation for allagencies to move quickly to a commonand comprehensive system of datacollection.’The late Lord Chief Justice, Lord Taylor, in 1995The research studies above highlight the need for ethnicmonitoring at key decision-making points of the criminaljustice system. Monitoring – which is becoming widelyaccepted both among criminal justice agencies and thegeneral public - is a useful tool. It helps to identifydifferent patterns or trends which suggest moreinvestigation is needed, particularly at those ‘crunch’points such as stop and search, arrest, charge, bail andsentencing which involve the use of discretionarydecision-making powers.Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 was asignificant milestone for race and criminal justice. Forthe first time, the criminal justice agencies - which arenot covered by the 1976 Race Relations Act - weregiven a statutory duty to avoid discrimination. Section95 has led to much more information been available,through the development of ethnic monitoring, about theimpact of the criminal justice system on different groupsof people.SECTION 95,CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1991‘The Secretary of State shall in each yearpublish such information as he considersexpedient for the purpose ofa) enabling persons engaged in theadministration of criminal justice tobecome aware of the financialimplications of their decisions; orb) facilitating the performance of suchpersons of their duty to avoiddiscriminating against any persons onthe ground of race or sex or anyother improper ground.’Five reports on race have been published (in 1992, 1994,1995, 1997 and 1998), one on gender (1992) and one oncosts (1992). The most recent report on race waspublished in December 1998. A very useful andcomprehensive report, it includes details of policemonitoring of stop and searches; arrests; cautions; andhomicides for the past two years; information aboutvictims of crime; the prison population; and thecomposition of the workforces in all the criminal justiceagencies.What is being monitored?Most criminal justice agencies now routinely monitor thecomposition of their staff and their recruitment andpromotion practices. New judicial and magisterialappointments are now monitored, as are appointments asQueen’s Counsel.As the s95 findings above show, since April 1996 allpolice forces have been required to monitor PACE stopand searches; arrests; cautions; and homicides. Someforces, such as Leicestershire Constabulary, monitor 12different areas of police powers.Probation services monitor commencements of probationorders, community service orders, combination orders,and pre-sentence reports using a system of race and ethnicmonitoring called PREM1.15

Let’s get it rightSUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS OFTHE 1998 s95 REPORTnnnOf the one million PACE s1 stop andsearches carried out in 1997/98, 11%were of black people, compared to 2%in the general population over the ageof 10; and 5% were of Asians, comparedto 3% in the general population.Of the two million arrests, 7% wereblack, and 4% were Asian. Cautioning,however, was used less frequently forblack people than for white and ‘other’ethnic groups.61% of the adult black male prisonpopulation was serving sentences ofover four years, compared to 59% ofAsians and 47% of white prisoners.Among women, 58% of black prisonerswere serving over four years comparedto 31% of white prisoners.In 1997 the Association of Chief Probation Officers(ACOP) conducted a survey of all areas to find out theextent to which monitoring was being used. Fifty oneservices took part. Although most areas were collectingmonitoring information for transmission to the HomeOffice, fewer were making use of the informationlocally in their casework with offenders. The more thatthe monitoring results were analysed and incorporatedinto team targets, the more that improvements topractice developed. The ACOP survey illustrates aproblem faced now by many criminal justice agencies –how to use the information collected by an ethnicmonitoring system to improve service delivery andquality.The CPS has worked since 1995 with the police tomonitor the way in which cases of racial incidents arehandled and taken to court. In 1998 it published asecond report on this monitoring, which is described inmore detail in chapter 8 on victims of crime.Prisons are required to monitor their populations,allocation of accommodation, employment, educationand training, adjudications, temporary release,segregation and requests/complaints.nn9% of the 1,230 murder victims overtwo years, from 1996 to 1998, wereblack, 6% were Asian and 3% were of‘other’ ethnic origin.There was a 6% increase in the numberof racial incidents recorded by thepolice, from 13,151 in 1996/97 to13,878.The CPS intends to introduce monitoring of caseworkdecisions when its current reorganisation is completeand information technology systems are in place.Home Office pilot studies - which look at ‘tracking’cases as they move through the criminal justice system- are under way in 11 police force areas.But as yet, there is no systematic ethnic monitoring ofsentencing.The real importance of s95 is becomingmore clearly apparent. It is now possibleto start looking at trends in, for example,stop and search and arrests; together withother recent research, such as the HomeOffice study above, the results confirmlong-standing concerns about thedisproportionate impact of the criminaljustice system on minority groups – asvictims- of crime and employees as well assuspects and offenders.In 1997 the Lord Chancellor’s Department published areport on ethnic monitoring of defendants appearing atLeicester magistrates’ courts in 1995. It recorded theethnicity, gender, type of offence and sentences passedon 20,031 people appearing at both adult and youthcourts. The small numbers of black defendants and thehigh level of missing data on ethnicity means that theresults need to be treated with caution. But the realvalue of the exercise lay in testing out procedures formonitoring at magistrates’ courts. Several practicalrecommendations are made about the process and howit can be improved, which should be of value for othercourts considering similar monitoring.16

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH AND ETHNICMONITORINGMonitoring categoriesThe question of which categories to use to monitor has formany years been sensitive and often controversial. Forexample in the probation service, the debate about whatcategories to use went on for some time and resulted in acomplex system that records both skin colour andnationality. It also records language and religion. Thereare likely to be problems with whatever system is used.But in the meantime, it is essential to measure the impactof the system on people from minority groups –particularly at key decision-making points – and to act onthe results. Any system must change and develop asthinking and knowledge develops; it must be flexible andpractical; but it must also provide information.The inclusion of an ethnic origin question in the 1991Census has been invaluable in providing informationabout allocation of services, and giving a benchmarkagainst which the criminal justice system can becompared to the local population. However newcategories of Black British and Mixed Race are beingtried out in Census tests, in preparation for the 2001Census, when it is also likely that a new Irish categorywill also be used. This will have an impact for monitoringin the criminal justice system and highlights the need forflexible and responsive monitoring systems.A ‘four plus one’ system, based on a collapsed downversion of the 1991 Census categories, is widely used nowin criminal justice agencies: white, black, Asian, other,and not known or recorded.(The 1991 Census used white, Black Caribbean, BlackAfrican, Black Other, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi,Chinese, Asian other, and other.)Many agencies still use their own systems – the police usetheir own IC1, 2, 3 system, for example (IC -Identification Codes) – but if whatever system used willcollapse down easily into the four plus one system, thismeans it is easier to compare trends and patterns withother local agencies, both locally and nationally, and withthe Census information. The more compatible the systemsare, the better for assessing the overall impact of thecriminal justice system.This does not prevent any local service using additionalmonitoring categories, based on knowledge of the localpopulation, to make sure that interpreters and otherappropriate services can be planned and budgeted for.It is also becoming apparent that the wide category of‘Asian’ is masking important differences among theIndian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities in termsof criminal justice and, in particular, young people.A self-classification system is best. That means asking theperson concerned to choose their own category. This isalready done in the probation service, and in the PrisonService, for example, when on admission new prisonersare shown a card and asked to describe themselves. Atthe other end of the process, however, the police decideon how to classify suspects. This may (or may not) beunderstandable when officers need a shorthand way todescribe suspects, as for example, when chasing someone.However as soon as someone starts to be processed by thesystem – for example, once the paperwork begins at thepolice station – they should be asked to classifythemselves at the same time as they give their age,address and other details.Above all, it is important that there is a common systemfor the criminal justice process.Using the results‘The value of ethnic monitoring exercisesas a whole will depend, to a largeextent, on the willingness of eachagency to address the problemsidentified by the monitoring exercises,and to acknowledge the need for furtherwork.’Lord Justice Rose, chair of the CJCC, 1997Monitoring is just a tool, like any other. It is there to helpdetect problems and improve services and standards. It isonly a first step. The results of monitoring cannot, ontheir own, prove or disprove anything. Having collectedthe information it must be used in the same way as, say,annual financial information is used. It should bereviewed and if patterns or trends suggest a problem, thenways have to be found to explore this.This has to be done by people who are in a senior positionand can act on the findings. There must also be feedbackgiven to individual staff, to teams, to users and eventually,perhaps in an annual report to the wider community. If theresults of monitoring, and the action taken to correct anyproblems which emerge, are made available locally this17

Let’s get it rightUSING MONITORING: EXAMPLEOF GOOD LOCAL PRACTICEIn a busy local prison, the Race RelationsLiaison Officer noticed from themonitoring of work allocations that noblack prisoners ever seemed to work inthe kitchens, even though this was quitea desirable job. He devised a very shortquestionnaire asking prisoners aboutthis. It turned out that there was noserious underlying cause but that mostblack prisoners were not interested in thetype of food being prepared. The prisonwas able to introduce a Caribbean diet onone or two days a month and more blackprisoners started to apply to work in thekitchen. This was a simple step whichdidn’t take money, or much time, butthought, imagination and sensitivity touser needs. This should be whatmonitoring is about.can help to restore confidence in the fairness of thecriminal justice system. And for staff who have to collectthe figures, it must be very frustrating if they never havethe opportunity to see, or better still discuss, the results.Monitoring needs to be systematic and continuous, andreviewed each year as a matter of routine so that anytrends can be identified and comparisons with previousyears be made.The way monitoring is used varies greatly, from complexanalysis done at the Home Office to small local initiativesthat are just as or even more important.A 1997 Home Office report on ‘Ethnic Monitoring inPolice Forces’ looked at the use of ethnic monitoring inthe police. It found differences between forces in theextent to which they collected ethnic monitoring statistics,and that ‘most police officers appear to view ethnicmonitoring as irrelevant at best; at worst it was resentedand/or feared as a stick deliberately designed to beat themwith’.It concludes that the value of ethnic monitoring will beshown over the next few years, as trends can be identifiedand information compared with what happens in the CPSand the courts. It stresses the value of monitoring at force,or local level. On its own, statistical data cannot be usedto assess the extent of direct discrimination. But it hasother values. According to the report:‘Monitoring may be able to track the impact ofwider developments and priorities in policing toensure that these do not unnecessarily furtherdamage police relations with ethnic minorities.‘Monitoring should help improve existing relationsbetween the police and ethnic minorities:a) by making the police more aware of thepatterns of their decision-making – in particular,of whether they use their powers more stringentlyon certain groups than others, and theconsequences of this; andb) by providing the peg for a dialogue between thepolice and ethnic minorities locally about issues ofmutual concern.’This applies just as much to other agencies in the criminaljustice process. It is particularly relevant, for example, tothe new proposals in the Crime and Disorder Act – suchas curfews and anti-social behaviour orders, wheremonitoring from the outset will be important to ensurethey do not have an unfair impact on any group.At a regional level, Area Criminal Justice LiaisonCommittees should ensure that their member agenciesmake use of monitoring results at local level. They canalso be used to start and maintain a consultation withlocal communities, and to enhance local accountability.A similar Home Office study of monitoring in all criminaljustice agencies is now under way.Much work is under way to introduce comprehensiveethnic monitoring across the whole criminal justicesystem. Effective information technology systems areneeded and are being developed by the relevantgovernment departments.18

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH AND ETHNICMONITORINGACTION POINTSPolice monitoring should extend tovictims of crime and clear-up rates fordifferent communities.The CPS monitoring of caseworkdecisions should be implemented asspeedily as possible.Monitoring of sentencing decisions atboth magistrates’ courts and CrownCourts should be introduced urgently.Self-classification systems should be usedby all agencies (once paperwork starts,whether for someone reporting a crime orfor a suspect, the person should be askedto classify their own ethnic origin).A standardised and flexible computersystem for the whole criminal justicesystem should be provided which iscapable of reacting to changes such asthe 2001 Census.Guidance is needed for local managers asto how to interpret and make best use ofmonitoring to improve services.Monitoring results should be used as abasis for honest discussion with localcommunities, perhaps through the newlocal crime prevention partnerships.Area Criminal Justice Liaison Committeesshould promote co-ordinated localsystems and consider policy and practiceimplications of the results.The new youth justice provisions (Crimeand Disorder Act 1998) must be subjectto monitoring from the outset.19

Let’s get it rightCHAPTER5Employmentand training‘For my part, I am disappointed thatmore has not been achieved towardsincreasing the number of ethnicminorities employed in the criminaljustice system. There continues to beregrettably low proportions of blackstaff in key areas, such as the police,and Prison Service, and they arealmost totally absent from senior orspecialist posts throughout thesystem.’Sylvia Denman, CJCC member from1992-96, writing in the CJCCnewsletter in February 1997EmploymentEthnic monitoring of staff has been in place in somecriminal justice agencies, such as the Prison Service, sincethe 1980s. It was introduced later in others, such theMagistrates’ Courts Service and among the judiciary, andis now generally in place across all the relevant agenciesand professions. This means it is possible to look back tosee what progress has been made towards creating acriminal justice system whose composition reflects widersociety.The courts and legal professionsIn 1986, there were (it was thought) two circuit judgesfrom minority groups; in 1998, there were believed to befive, out of 561. There are still no minority judges at anyhigher judicial level. Although High Court Bench postsare now advertised, and both the previous and presentLord Chancellors have actively encouraged more minorityapplicants, very little progress seems to have been madeover the past 12 years.In 1998, 26 (or 2%) of the 1,269 recorders and assistantrecorders were from minority groups; in 1992, there hadbeen six out of 722, or 0.2%. Two of the 91 stipendiarymagistrates, four of the 107 acting stipendiary magistratesand 17 (1.7%) of the 974 Queen’s Counsel were fromminority groups.In 1987, an optional survey (which had a low return rate)of lay magistrates in England and Wales (except those inLancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside who areappointed separately) suggested that about 1% were fromminority groups. A similar survey in 1997 had a returnrate of 93.4%. Of those who responded, 4.4% said theywere of ethnic minority origin.At present, complete information about the ethnic originof magistrates is only recorded about new appointments.In 1996, 6.5% of newly appointed magistrates were fromminority groups; this rose to 6.8% in 1998.There were no minority justices’ clerks in 1986. In 1998,for the very first time, there were four minority justices’clerks, representing 3% of the total. There are still nominority justices’ chief executives. 7% of magistrates’court staff and 4% of Crown and Combined Court staffwere from minority communities.20

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 5 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAININGThe legal professions are attracting more minorityentrants. In 1998, 8% of solicitors on the Roll, 5% ofsolicitors with practising certificates, and 9% of qualifiedbarristers were from minority groups. A quarter of thestudents enrolling on the Bar vocational course in 1997were from minority groups, as were 15% of new solicitorsadmitted in 1997.But while 70% of white legal trainees get satisfactoryemployment after training, only 14% of racial minoritystudents do so. And at the other end of the profession,only 2% of QCs are from racial minorities – 22 out of1,006.The Bar Council and the Law Society both adopted racerelations policies in the early 1990s. They include targetsfor recruitment by firms of solicitors and chambers ofbarristers designed to ensure access to minority lawyers.However it is difficult to enforce and monitorimplementation of policies in professions made up ofindependent and autonomous firms. The policies, goodas they are, to a great extent remain on paper when itcomes to distribution of work, securing tenancies,securing jobs in commercial law firms and getting therange of experience necessary for consideration forjudicial office.The extension of rights of audience to solicitors in theCourts and Legal Services Act 1990 was a welcome steptowards encouraging a more diverse judiciary (althoughso far only 634 out of 70,000 solicitors have qualified) asit opens up the possibility of judicial appointment to agreater pool of candidates.It is essential that the Bar Council and Law Society takesteps to actively promote their equality policies – not onlyto encourage diversity in their own professions but also inorder to ensure that minority lawyers have the rightopportunities to advance to judicial office.In June 1998, the Lord Chancellor announced thatsolicitors and lawyers employed by the CPS are to havethe same rights of audience as barristers in the highercourts, which may also gradually lead to a more diversejudiciary.The CPS is planning to monitor the allocation of its courtwork to barristers, to ensure that this is distributed fairly.A joint letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions andthe chairs of the Bar Council and Criminal BarAssociation to all chambers, requesting information aboutthe ethnic origin of counsel so that the monitoring couldbegin, has to date received a very poor response; only37% of chambers in the London and South Easterncircuit, for example, have sent a return.In its evidence to the Home Affairs Committee inquiry onjudicial appointments, NACRO suggested consideringother career paths to the judiciary, for example, byappointing legal academics or senior managers from otherrelated fields, who are given appropriate judicial training;and establishing a Judicial Appointments Commission toreview the selection, training and appointment of thejudiciary. Despite the progress made over recent years,there is still a need to make more progress, more rapidly,towards a diverse judiciary to reflect Britain in the year2000.In 1998, 10% of staff in the Lord Chancellor’sDepartment (LCD) were from racial minorities, as were15.8% of new entrants and 10.3% of leavers in1997/98.The LCD has a programme of action to achieve equalityof opportunity for minority staff which is reviewedannually. The department sponsors two students each yearunder the Windsor Fellowship and provides three mentorsfor the National Mentoring Consortium. The PermanentSecretary and Chief Executives of the Court Service andthe Public Trust Office have signed up for theCommission for Racial Equality’s (CRE’s) LeadershipChallenge. LCD headquarters and the associated officesand Public Trust Office have achieved, and the CourtService is working towards, Investors in Peopleaccreditation, where staff development is a key factor.This includes a review of induction procedures,competence-based appraisal and selection systems for allstaff below the senior civil service and work on linkingtraining and development to the business objectives andkey competencies.In all of these developments, equality of opportunity hasbeen a key objective. The department will be undertakinga review of equal opportunities which will include workon management development and mentoring. There willbe focus groups of minority staff to give them anopportunity to report to management on their experiencesof working in the LCD and to make recommendations asto where policy and practice needs to be improved.21

Let’s get it rightPolice and prison servicesIn 1986, the Prison Department, as it then was, estimatedthat fewer than 1% of prison officers were from minoritygroups. In 1998, 2.73% of prison officers, 1.41% of seniorand principal officers and 0.48% of governor gradesdescribed their ethnicity as black, Asian or of anotherminority group. The retention rate for minority PrisonService staff was 85% compared to 91% for white staff.Progress here, then, has also been slow. There arecurrently two minority participants in the Prison Serviceaccelerated promotion scheme.With the advent of agency status for the Prison Service,staff recruitment became a local responsibility, instead ofa national function. Staff are recruited from localworkforces, which means that in areas with smallminority populations, such as rural parts of Wales, it isalmost impossible to recruit a diverse staff (relocationgrants which might have helped staff to move alsodisappeared during the 1990s). But rural prisons oftenhold high proportions of minority prisoners, moved out ofcities like London, Birmingham or Manchester to relieveovercrowding.Prior to the move to local recruitment, the Prison Servicehad been making great efforts to attract more black andAsian staff. These included a substantial programme ofpromoting the service in community organisations andlocal job centres, at careers fairs, colleges, schools andchurches, open days, and advertisements in minority pressand minority local radio stations. In its 1992 report, theNACRO Race Issues Advisory Committee noted progress:‘The response to these efforts has beenencouraging. There has been a considerableincrease in the number of applications to join thePrison Service from members of ethnic minorities.During 1990, 2,827 applications were receivedfrom ethnic minority candidates (7.4% of allapplications) compared with 738 applications in1989. Composition of courses [for new entrants]suggests that some 4% of new entrants will comefrom ethnic minorities.’Sadly, the demands made by an increased prisonpopulation and financial constraints, together with the endof national recruitment, meant this progress did notcontinue. From being a ‘market leader’ the Prison Servicehas in some ways gone backwards in recent years.New efforts are now under way to tackle this.The Prison Service has carried out its own review ofminority representation and identified a number of keyareas in which action needs to be taken. These are part ofthe RESPOND programme, racial equality for staff andprisoners (see also chapter 7):confronting racial harassment and discriminationensuring fairness in recruitment, appraisal, promotionand selectiondeveloping and supporting ethnic minority staffensuring equal opportunities for ethnic minorityprisonersrecruiting ethnic minority staff.A specialist race equality advisor is about to be appointed.A national outreach team is being re-established, whichwill promote development opportunities for minority staffand help to develop a national minority staff network.In 1990, 0.92% of police officers of all ranks were fromminorities. By 1998, this had increased to 2%, or 2,483 ofthe 124,798 police officers in England and Wales. There isone minority assistant chief constable and foursuperintendents.A 1995 report from HM Chief Inspector of Police,‘Developing Diversity in the Police Service’, makes thelinks between external perceptions of the police,particularly in terms of their work on community relations,and recruitment. It may prove impossible for police forcesto substantially increase current recruitment levels fromminority communities unless this is done in tandem withensuring demonstrably fair policing to a high standard tothose same communities. According to the report:‘Although in the majority of forces there is a verysmall but continuing rise in the recruitment ofwomen and ethnic minority officers, their progressup the promotion ladder or into departments andspecialisms is far slower. Alongside praiseworthyexamples of good practice, there is alsoscepticism, tokenism and indifference … There aremany individuals who see equal opportunities ascrucial to the development of a modern, efficientand diverse workforce for the next century, butentrenched attitudes continue to frustrate or dilutetheir best efforts.’The progress that has been made in attracting more22

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 5 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAININGminority officers is also at risk from budget cuts. InOctober 1998, the Home Secretary, speaking at a BlackPolice Association Conference, announced targets for therecruitment, retention and promotion of black and Asianofficers. He said:‘It is not enough for forces to pay lip service tothe ethos of equal opportunities. It is vital that thepolice demonstrate minority ethnic officers areneeded in the police and that they can progressthrough the ranks on equal terms with colleagues.Black and Asian people need to believe that theyare needed and not there just to make up thenumbers.’Giving evidence in Bradford to one of the local hearingsof the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, an assistant chiefconstable from West Yorkshire Police reported the successof a year-long advertising campaign which had resulted in40% more inquiries from members of minoritycommunities. But he continued: ‘this year we haverecruited only 16 officers, one Asian, because ofeconomic constraints, and next year we are not expectingto take any new recruits’.In response to recommendations 64-68 in the StephenLawrence Inquiry Report, in April 1999 the HomeSecretary announced targets for recruitment and retentionof more black and Asian police officers. Over the next 10years each force will be expected to achieve a similarproportion of minority officers to that in their localpopulation.At the same time, a new Home Office report, ‘CareerProgression of Ethnic Minority Police Officers’, showedthat:Applications from members of minority communitiesto join the police were lower than expected.Minority applicants were less likely than whiteapplicants to be offered an interview, receive a formaloffer of employment and be appointed.Retention rates for minority officers had deteroriatedbut had improved slightly for white officers.Minority officers were twice as likely to resign aswhite officers and two to three times more likely to bedismissed.Minority officers took 12 months longer than whiteofficers to reach sergeant rank. Black officers took 23months and Asian officers 16 months longer thanwhite officers to reach inspector level.Announcing the targets at a conference of chief constablesin April 1999, the Home Secretary said:‘I’m not setting quotas and saying that you have totake somebody on because of the colour of theirskin. I’m setting targets that will enable the policeservice to more fairly represent the communitiesyou serve. I want the police service to become thechampions of a multi-cultural society not justbecause that is right in itself but because it willmake it a more effective police service.’The CPS and probation servicesProbation services have made much progress in attractinga diverse staff. From 2% in 1986, 8% of staff are nowfrom minority groups compared to 6% in the generalpopulation – but only four people are at assistant chiefprobation officer level. There are three times as manyblack staff as in the general population, but only half asmany Asian staff. In London, between a fifth and aquarter of probation staff are from minority groups.Similarly, the CPS – a brand new organisation in 1985 –in 1998 employed a workforce with 8.4% of its staff fromminority groups. 15.4% of new entrants in 1997/98 whodeclared their ethnic origin were from minority groups,but so too were 10.7% of those who left the organisationand who had previously declared their ethnic origin.The CPS programme of action on race (along with similarprogrammes on women and disability) sets out measuresto achieve equality of opportunity. There is an outreachprogramme to raise awareness of the CPS as employerand increase the number of applicants from minorities,particularly where they are under-represented in certaingrades compared to Census benchmarks. Under thenational mentoring scheme, about 30 CPS staff havementored 50 students. Through the Windsor Fellowship,the CPS sponsors two minority students for two yearsincluding a six weeks’ paid work placement.In those organisations such as the CPS and the probationservice which have successfully attracted a goodproportion of minority staff, it is now important to ensurefirstly that they stay, and secondly that equal opportunitiesexist for promotion to the most senior levels, usingpositive action initiatives as permitted by the RaceRelations Act 1976.23

Let’s get it rightThe value of minority staffassociationsBlack and Asian staff associations play a key role incriminal justice agencies. As well as providing support atwork and campaigning on working conditions, they alsotake part in discussions about wider criminal justicepolicy and practice affecting minority victims of crime,suspects and defendants.The Association of Black Probation Officers (ABPO) wasformed in 1984. Ten years later, in 1994, the Black PoliceAssociation was established, first in the MetropolitanPolice and then in other police forces. The Society ofBlack Lawyers, founded in 1973, and the Association ofAfrican and Asian Lawyers, represent minority grouplawyers and legal workers.The Black Police Association has been closely involved inwork to take forward the recommendations of theInspectorate of Constabulary’s thematic inspection ofcommunity and race relations, ‘Winning the Race’. It isrepresented on the working group which the HomeSecretary set up to implement the report’srecommendations and on the planning group whichorganised the April conference mentioned earlier. It alsoassisted the Inspectorate in producing the follow upinspection, ‘Winning the Race Revisited’.An organisation to represent black staff in the PrisonService is now being established.A criminal justice network of minority staff associationswould have great value; it could promote a consistentapproach to employment, retention, training andpromotion across all the agencies and would be able tomake an important contribution to policy development. Itshould be actively promoted and assisted by criminaljustice managers at national level.Training‘Training is vital for all those with a roleto play in the criminal justice process.Such training should be work-based, thatis, related to the tasks the person beingtrained has to do, and help them to dothose tasks better and moreappropriately.’‘Race and Criminal Justice’, NACRO 1989In 1992, the Race Issues Advisory Committee published areport which reviewed the state of training among criminaljustice agencies at that time. It found considerable variation,with training ranging from a one-hour session to severaldays in length, and a piecemeal approach to content andmethods of delivery, both within and between agencies. Itrecommended a much higher priority be given to raceequality training, with more time and more resourcesallocated, and, importantly, with support being given bymanagers back at work, so what was learned could be putinto practice.Financial constraints and other demands have meant thattraining continues to have a low priority. There have,however, been some significant and encouragingdevelopments in the 1990s.JSB Equal Treatment AdvisoryCommitteeThe Judicial Studies Board (JSB) is responsible for trainingthe judiciary and for advising on training of magistrates. In1991 it established a new committee, the Ethnic MinoritiesAdvisory Committee (EMAC) – which in 1997 was renamedthe Equal Treatment Advisory Committee (ETAC) – toreflect its wider equality remit.EMAC was responsible for commissioning and deliveringcompulsory race awareness training to every judge in thecountry. The weekend sessions began with a dinner to whichmembers of local minority communities were invited, to tellthe judges about their experiences. There was some initialresistance by judges to the training, but the programme hasnow been completed and is regarded as a success. (Therewas also some questioning of the value of the dinners on thepart of people from local communities who were somehowexpected to be ‘representative’.)This was the first time that such training had been providedfor judges. There is a longer history of race or communityrelations training in the police, prison and probation services,but this was a radical step for the judiciary. It was animportant expression of high level commitment to a fair andnon-discriminatory criminal justice system.Together with the Magisterial Committee of the JSB, in 1998ETAC commissioned a training package for magistrates onequal treatment, which was produced by the NACRO Race24

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 5 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAININGand Criminal Justice Unit. The materials are in a modularformat, so that each section can either stand alone or bewoven into other forms of magisterial training.This experience with judges and magistrates could now bedeveloped for use by those involved in tribunals, such asimmigration or mental health appeals.A human awareness training package has also beendeveloped by the CPS, initially in London, with the help ofthe NACRO Race and Criminal Justice Unit. Afterevaluation, it was adapted for use nationally and is beingdelivered in all CPS branches.In 1997, the Prison Service issued a new race relations order,replacing the previous Race Relations Manual (whichalthough very comprehensive, had been felt by many staff tobe unwieldy and impractical). Standard Nine covers training.It provides for central training for managers, members ofrace relations management teams (RRMTs) and racerelations liaison officers (RRLOs). There is also a localtraining package for all staff. Training – whether central orlocal – is mandatory. However, the Prison Service documentcomments:‘… effectively delivered local training in racerelations for all staff (including civilian andadministrative staff) is essential to the delivery ofgood race relations in establishments … Given thatthere will always be pressures on training budgets,and that there will often be pressure on training suchas race relations to be squeezed out by training onsubjects which are the priority of the moment,establishments will need to consider imaginative andinnovative means of ensuring that race relationstraining proceeds within those inevitable constraints.’While the constraints may or may not be inevitable, theexperience of the NACRO Race and Criminal Justice Unit indifferent parts of the country suggests that it was provingextremely difficult for RRMT members and RRLOs to getaccess to limited spaces on central training courses, and localtraining is rare. However, in recent months additionalcourses have been added to the programme, reducing thebacklog of applicants, and local training material is beingdeveloped in conjunction with NACRO.Two reports from the Chief Inspector of Constabulary in the1990s have considered training provided for the police. In‘Developing Diversity in the Police Service’, the ChiefInspector commented that while equal opportunity trainingneeded to run like a ‘golden thread’ through all trainingprogrammes:‘… there is a significant gap between perceptionsand reality. The widespread absence ofprofessional evaluation of training meant that therewas often little evidence of achievement, andcomments from trainees suggested that the equalopportunities element could easily be marginalisedor ignored.’The report identified a need to monitor training provisionto ensure the ‘golden thread’ was a reality; to support bothtrainers and those at the receiving end and ensuringtraining can be put into practice; for training to be relatedto wider policing objectives and to be placed in thecontext of fairness and the value of diversity, rather thanin the context of race and gender.A second Inspectorate report, ‘Winning the Race’, waspublished two years later. It found that ‘community andrace relations training is relegated to a lowly position onthe training agenda, not least because its relevance tomeeting operational targets is not clear’. Little evidenceof the ‘golden thread’ was found; community and racerelations training was, rather, a ‘bolt-on optional extra, decoupledfrom questions of service delivery’. Generalprobationer training did not equip new officers to dealwith the sensitive situations they had to face while someline managers showed ‘indifference (at worst) and lack ofconfidence (at best) in tackling appropriate racistbehaviour by officers’. As with the earlier report, therewas no monitoring or evaluation of the training provided,and forces often did not make use of officers who hadbeen trained centrally, offering no support or movingthem to other posts before they could implement thetraining. The report added:‘The inspection revealed that those officers who aresensitive to dealing with diversity and confident intheir handling of different community groups are fewin number, and the knowledge and expertise withinforces to develop and train staff is limited.’A NACRO evaluation of a stop and search experiment inTottenham in 1995/96 revealed fragile and often hostileencounters between police officers and, in particular,young people and people from minority communities. Itstressed the need for community and race relationstraining which related closely to street duties; to contactwith members of the public; to using powers under thePolice and Criminal Evidence Act, such as stop andsearch; to skills in taking and passing on descriptions ofpeople from different communities; and to dealing withpotentially tense or confrontational situations in a waywhich did not lead to an escalation of tension. It also25

Let’s get it rightmade proposals about training for supervisors.An attitude survey among the officers involved showed that:‘… there is a need for more general equality trainingfor officers, which takes place in the division and isbased on the real circumstances they are required topolice. It is one thing to have a session on equalopportunities during recruit training. It is quiteanother to put this into practice on the street in newor unfamiliar surroundings. A Vauxhall officer raisedthe question of conducting searches of members ofthe opposite sex: a similar awareness is needed abouthow police conduct might be perceived ormisconstrued in terms of race.’The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report found that:‘… not a single officer questioned before us in1998 had received any training of significance inracism awareness and race relations throughout thecourse of his or her career.’ (6.45d)It made several recommendations about training in racismawareness and valuing cultural diversity which have allbeen accepted by the Government. A new trainingcontract has recently been awarded by the Home Officewhich, it is hoped, will give a new impetus to race andcommunity relations training in the police and which willtackle some of these concerns. The new contract has twoelements:The integration of community and race relations issuesthroughout the national police training curriculum.A programme of training and support to individualforces which will be firmly rooted in the operationalcontext in which forces deliver their services.‘Winning the Race Revisited’ – published soon after thereport of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in 1999 –highlighted just how important this is. It looked at whathad been achieved since its first report in October 1997.On training, it had this to say:‘… training in general awareness of varyingcultural issues, the investigation of crime with aracial element, the prudent use of discretionincluding stop and search powers, and addressinginappropriate behaviour has been marginalised.’The Association of Chief Police Officers standingcommittee on Race and Community Relations has maderace and community relations training one of its four mainstrategic goals.Inter-agency trainingRecommendation 51 of the Stephen Lawrence InquiryReport suggests that consideration is given to joint trainingwith other agencies. Joint training across criminal justiceagencies would promote a co-ordinated and consistentapproach to fairness and equality in the delivery of justice. Itwould allow exchanges of ideas and experience in differentworking situations and would be a good way to moreactively involve community groups in design and delivery oftraining.NACRO Race and Criminal Justice UnitIn the course of its local work over the past six years, theUnit has developed training designed to meet the local andnational needs of each criminal justice agency. The widercriminal justice perspective of its work means that thetraining is not delivered in isolation from new developmentsand legislation. For example, the community and policepartnerships set out in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, andnew approaches such as restorative justice and mediationschemes, can be taken into account as training programmesare designed and as they are actually running.Training courses are practical and related to daily workingpractices, designed for different grades of staff, includingmanagers, and to take into local cirumstances.In addition to the JSB and the CPS, the Unit has providedmore than 50 courses for staff and magistrates inmagistrates’ courts, and for frontline staff and ushers inCrown Courts in various parts of the country; courses for theBoard of Visitors at HMP Pentonville; and for staff at HMPsWandsworth and Altcourse.Three pocket guides to race and religion have beenproduced, based on the training and designed to suit theworking practices of the agencies concerned. The first wasproduced for Crown Court staff, in conjunction with theSouth East Circuit of the Court Service; the second was formagistrates’ courts (jointly with the Justices’ Clerks’Society); a third was for the CPS and has also been providedto all staff.The private sectorPrivate companies are now providing most court escort andsecurity services and managing an increasing number ofprison and youth training centres. It is crucial that theyoperate recruitment and promotion systems and providetraining for their staff to at least the same standards as26

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 5 EMPLOYMENT AND TRAININGrequired of state agencies. Joint state and private sectortraining or local recruitment initiatives might help to promoteimprovements at local levels.SummaryIn general, minority staff remain under-represented in theprison and police services and among the sentencers. TheCPS and probation services have a higher proportion ofminority staff but they are seldom found in seniormanagement. The legal professions are attracting a highproportion of new entrants from minority groups, but theysometimes face difficulties in securing articles andpupillages, or the all-round experience necessary forprogression either to the judiciary or in fields other thancriminal law.There are, therefore, still problems in recruiting candidates,in ensuring they stay and have the opportunity to reachsenior levels, and ensuring structural or workingarrangements are not unnecessarily hampering minority stafffrom reaching the top.In NACRO’s experience in different parts of the country, it issaid frequently, and by all agencies, that because there hasbeen no recruitment at all, due to budget cuts, this has had anegative impact on efforts to recruit more minority staff.Although much has been achieved in terms of written equalopportunity employment policies, much more is still to bedone to achieve a criminal justice system which more closelyreflects the diversity of the society it serves.In relation to training, despite some very encouragingdevelopments in the judiciary and the magistracy, the overallpicture is bleak. Training continues to receive a low priority;good initiatives are undermined by budgetary considerations,lack of support in the working situation, lack of relevance today-to-day work and lack of evaluation about what works ordoes not work.ACTION POINTSnA Judicial Appointments Commission should beestablished to examine ways to produce morespeedily a diverse judiciary and to play a part inthe appointment procedure itself.Continuing efforts should be made to encouragemore applicants for the magistracy fromminority communities.The Bar Council and Law Society should activelypromote and enforce their equal opportunitypolicies.The Bar Council should ensure barristers cooperatewith the CPS monitoring of its work.The Prison Service should develop a nationalrecruitment programme to supplement localrecruitment and ensure a more diverseworkforce in all establishments, including atsenior levels.The CPS and probation services should examinepromotion systems to ensure they are accessibleto all and consider positive action wherenecessary.Police forces should give new priority to meetingthe new government recruitment and retentiontargets, and examine promotion procedures toensure they are accessible to all.All agencies should consider adopting targets forrecruitment, retention and promotion of stafffrom racial minorities, on similar lines to thoseset by the Home Secretary for the police.All agencies should support minority group staffassociations.All agencies must give priority and resources totraining for all staff, which is directly related toworking practices and which is monitored,evaluated and supported in the workingsituation.At local level, agencies should consider holdinginter-agency training.Local community groups must be involved in theplanning and delivery of training.Private companies holding contracts for courtescorts and security and for management ofprisons should be held to the same standards interms of employment, promotion and trainingpractices as state agencies.27

Let’s get it rightCHAPTER6Suspects anddefendants‘Approaching the millennium, and associety becomes even more diverse,all forces need to reaffirm theircommitment to securing the supportof all sections of the public theyserve. This is a founding principle ofthe police service and was reiteratedby Lord Scarman nearly 20 years ago.It is in danger of being subordinated,and possibly lost, to newdevelopments and what may be seenas conflicting priorities which are notsynchronised with wider publicaspirations.‘It is the view of HM Inspector,however, that a commitment toimproving community and racerelations is not in conflict with thepolice’s responsibilities for tacklingcrime and maintaining law and order.Rather it is a pre-requisite for doing soeffectively.’‘Winning the Race’, HM Inspector ofConstabulary, 1997Until 1994, the police were not represented on NACRO’sRace Issues Advisory Committee. This was because,when it was first established in 1983, the Committee feltthat in the aftermath of the disturbances in Brixton andother cities in 1981 and the subsequent report by LordScarman, a great deal of attention was being focussed onthe police and a programme of action to implement theScarman recommendations was under way.Because the police are usually the first contact point forthe public – as victims of crime, or as suspects – policeforces tended to attract the most criticism while thecourts, the prisons, the probation services and, after 1986,the CPS tended to escape attention. The Committeewanted to make sure these agencies were not overlooked.Recent developments – the results of ethnic monitoring,new research studies, and crucially, the Stephen LawrenceInquiry Report – have put the spotlight firmly on thepolice once more. This chapter begins by looking atpolice and community relations; but the work of the CPS,the legal professions and the courts is, again, notforgotten.The under-representation of people from minoritycommunities as professionals working in the criminaljustice agencies is in stark contrast to their overrepresentationat every key stage as suspects andoffenders. For them, the demarcation lines betweenagencies, and subtle distinctions about who does what, arenot important. It is just the ‘system’: a system that isperceived by many – both black and white – to be unfairand discriminatory.It is important that criminal justice agencies worktogether, to deliver justice and equality in a seamlessprocess from first contact with the police to disposal atcourt. Much of this chapter is about the police; butunderlying principles of the approach apply just as muchto the other agencies concerned.The police‘Winning the Race’, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary’s1997 report, provides an impressive list of steps takensince 1981 by the Home Office, the Association of ChiefPolice Officers (ACPO), and individual police forces toimprove police and community relations. Immediatelyafter the Scarman report in 1981, the police staff collegebegan to provide courses on policing and ethnic28

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 6 SUSPECTS AND DEFENDANTSminorities. The following year, 1983, the Home Officeestablished a Specialist Support Unit to provide training,firstly at Brunel University, and from 1989 at Turvey inBedfordshire. Training has continued to the present day.However, as the previous chapter showed, it had not beenas successful as expected and the Chief Inspector’sreports include a series of recommendations to givetraining more bite.The annual Holly Royde seminar on race, communityrelations and policing has been held by the Home Officefor over 20 years. It enables officers – usually middle tosenior managers – to develop action plans to deal withissues of concern in their own force. It has produced somevaluable local initiatives – one of which is described laterin chapter 8. However, according to ‘Winning the Race’:‘… in many instances, officers who had spent aweek at the Holly Royde Conference … workingup action plans on community and race relationstopics were unsupported in implementing these ontheir return to the force, or worse, were moved toother posts before they could see them through.’Community consultationCommunity and Police Consultative Groups (CPCGs)were established under s106 of the 1984 Police andCriminal Evidence Act. One of Scarman’s keyrecommendations was to set up forums to enable bettercommunication and consultation with local communities.Experience of s106 committees is variable. Some play animportant role in providing a channel of communicationto the police. Others, however, tend to include mostlymiddle-aged, middle class residents; there are fewmembers of minority groups and hardly any young peopleat all.According to the 1998 Glidewell review of the CPS:‘Police community committees are often useful butare often criticised on the ground that discussion isat too low a level and too parochial. It is oftendifficult to encompass some pressure groups (eg inproblematical inner city areas which tend to shunthese and other formal or semi-formal groupings).’Some CPCGs, such as Lambeth, are trying to tackle thisby establishing youth forums and black issues groups.Lay visitors schemes to encourage inspection of policecells were also introduced after the Scarman report.Neighbourhood Watch and other crime preventioninitiatives also involve community consultation.But are these channels of communication reaching thosewho have the most confrontational or conflictual contactswith the police? And is the consultation a two-wayprocess? Consultation can have different meanings forpolice and for the public. A Home Office evaluation ofOperation Eagle Eye – a Metropolitan Police campaign totarget street robbery that was launched with muchcontroversy in 1995 – had this to say about consultation:‘ … many community representatives said thattheir main source of information about Eagle Eyewas the media and were concerned that theOperation had been launched prior to, rather thanfollowing, consultation with important interestgroups …These rather negative perceptionsconflict with the MPS’s view of the adequacy ofthe consultative process. From the MPSperspective, consultation with the community wasboth extensive and appropriately timed.’The consultation concerned had included CPCGs and thestrategy had been set out in the MPS policing plan.Community leaders had been invited to a meeting withthe Commissioner. Consultation continued after thelaunch, again with CPCGs at divisional level. However,the report continues:‘The opposing views of the consultative processappear to derive both from different interpretationsof the term “consultation” … the dominant viewamong community representatives interviewed wasthat there had been inadequate discussion of theproposed action against street robbery or itsimplications for community relations … the timingof the meeting with the Commissioner …accentuated the view that its aim was to impartinformation about plans and tactics which hadalready been formulated rather than to consultabout options well in advance of anyannouncement.’Recent changes to the structure of police authorities, andthe new Police Authority for London which is to beestablished, extend community representation.The police and local authority crime preventionpartnerships in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 are29

Let’s get it rightanother new avenue to extend consultation. Home Officeguidance on the Act stresses the need to consult ‘hard toreach’ groups, and to ensure that minority communitiesare consulted. There is thus a high level of commitment toconsultation at government level.It is essential that this commitment is also shown at locallevels. The new channels must be used flexibly andimaginatively, to ensure a wide participation of peoplefrom all parts of the community and of all ages. Theymust also involve real consultation – a two-way process –and not be restricted to giving information.Policing local communities‘I get stopped so regularly that I wonderif I should leave my house sometimes.’Young black man, Tottenham, London, 1996 –from ‘Policing Local Communities’, NACRO 1997It is at the level of first line contact – on the street and inlocal police stations – where most conflict between policeand minority communities has arisen. Since the Scarmanreport, great efforts have been made by ACPO and seniorofficers to improve police and community relations at thisfundamental level. Have these efforts been successful?The 1984, Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE)introduced new police powers in relation to stop andsearch to replace the older set of powers – often called‘sus’ – which had created such conflict with localcommunities. The Act included safeguards to ensureresponsible use by officers of what is a very powerful,intrusive and frightening procedure – to be searched inpublic. PACE requires that police officers must havereasonable grounds for suspecting that stolen orprohibited articles will be found. According to the PACECodes of Practice:‘Reasonable suspicion can never be supported onthe basis of personal factors alone. For example, aperson’s colour, age, hairstyle or manner of dress… cannot be used alone or in combination witheach other as the sole basis on which to search thatperson. Nor may it be founded on the basis ofstereotyped images of certain persons or groups asmore likely to be committing offences.’In 1994 HM Inspectorate of Constabulary introducedethnic monitoring of searches as a performance indicator.Results of monitoring for 1995 were published in Hansardas a result of a question from Bernie Grant MP. Theysuggested that nationally, 22% of those searched were‘ethnic minority persons’ compared to just under 6% inthe general population. From 1995, monitoring of stopand searches, arrests, cautions and homicides wasintroduced under s95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991.Two further years’ results – in the 1998 Home Officereport on s95 – show the same pattern.Although monitoring figures alone cannot tell the fullstory, it is a serious concern – which is acknowledged bymany senior officers – that the figures so far show thatmembers of minority groups are four to five times morelikely than whites to be stopped and searched.The Metropolitan Police carry out the highest number ofstop and searches of all forces – in 1997/98 about onethirdof all PACE searches took place in London. Sixteenyears ago, a Policy Studies Institute (PSI) report on howthe previous police powers were being used in Londonfound that ‘the proportion of all adults who have beenstopped in a vehicle in the past 12 months is 14%; theproportion of young West Indians who own or have theuse of a vehicle who have been stopped in a vehicle is49%’. Young African Caribbeans were more likely to bestopped and searched than whites, and to be subject tomultiple stops. In the 15-24 age group, 63% of AfricanCaribbean men, 44% of white men and 18% of Asianshad been stopped.This 1983 study identified a ‘strike rate’ – the proportionof stops leading to the detection of an offence – as one inevery 12 stops. This result was the same for each ethnicgroup. It also noted that the great majority of both blackand white people stopped had not committed an offence;and that ‘the cost of the present policy, in terms of therelationship between the police and certain sections of thepublic is shown to be substantial, and most stops arewasted effort’.The PSI survey included interviews with members of thepublic and police officers. One of its conclusions was that‘there is a dangerous lack of confidence in the policeamong substantial numbers of young white people and adisastrous lack of confidence among young people ofWest Indian origin’.In 1997/98, s95 monitoring shows that 40% of peoplestopped and searched by the MPS were from minority30

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 6 SUSPECTS AND DEFENDANTSgroups – double their proportion in London’s populationof 20%. For every 1,000 of the population aged over 10,police search 38 white people compared to 181 blackpeople and 66 Asian people.Overall only 11% of the searches led to an arrest – 11%for white people, 12% for black people and 9% forAsians. As in the PSI study, the strike rate of thispowerful police tool is low.Searches per 1,000 population have increased over1996/97 in each of the 10 police forces with the highestminority populations, with the exception of Bedfordshireand the West Midlands. The West Midlands force hasdecreased its use of stop and search from 58,401 in1996/97 to 42,486 in 1997/98; it will be interesting to seewhat effect this may have on clear-up rates and tounderstand what lies behind the decreased use of PACEsearch powers.Analysis of the 1994 and 1996 British Crime Surveysshows:African Caribbeans were more likely than white orAsian people to be stopped while in a vehicle or onfoot; investigated; asked for documents or a statement.23% of African Caribbeans recalled being stopped inthe previous year (foot and vehicle) compared to 15%of Asians and 16% of whites.14% of African Caribbeans were stopped more thanonce, compared to 7% of Asians and 5% of whites.Those aged 16 to 25 were more likely to be stopped;among white and African Caribbean men in this agegroup there was a smaller difference – 47% of whiteyoung men and 53% of African Caribbean young men– than among all men.Of those stopped, 20% of African Caribbeans werelikely to be searched compared to 15% of Asians and8% of whites.African Caribbeans were more likely to be arrested asa result – 12% compared to 6% of Asians and 3% ofwhites.82% of whites were satisfied with the way the policemanaged the stop compared to 72% of Asians and55% of African Caribbeans.PACE and a high level commitment by the police toimproving community relations do not seem to have hadmuch impact on street level contacts between policeofficers and people from minority communities, whocontinue to be stopped and searched at higher rates thanwhite people. A high level of hostility and distrustbetween young people, people from minoritycommunities and the police is still in evidence as it was inthe 1983 study.In 1996, the Metropolitan Police in Tottenham conductedan experiment whose impact was evaluated by NACRO.The experiment meant that each time officers conducted asearch they were required to give the person concerned aleaflet which explained the police power and individualrights. During the year of the experiment, there was a52% drop in the number of stop and searches; theproportions of people from different groups beingsearched did not change (49% of people searched in1995/96 were from minority groups, compared to 47% theprevious year and 38% in the Tottenham population). Thearrest rate rose from 10% to 12%.The evaluation also included attitude surveys amongpolice officers and members of the public who had beensearched. There are disturbing echoes of the viewsexpressed in the early 1980s and reported in the PSI study– from both officers and the public. The report concluded:‘There is an enormous gulf … between localcommunities and their police service. There ishostility on both sides of the gulf, and a great dealof anger and suspicion and widespreadmisunderstanding and incomprehension,particularly between the police and local youngblack people.’The evaluation report noted that in practice, PACE wasnot providing the protection envisaged: it was poorlyunderstood in terms of ‘reasonable grounds’; policecontinued to make stereotyped assumptions about blackpeople; the use of search powers was not effectivelymanaged and supervised; and channels of communicationbetween the police and the more hostile sections of thepublic were urgently needed.Since that experiment, the MPS has ended the practice ofcounting numbers of stop and searches per team as aperformance indicator, which is a positive step. Furtherpilot stop and search exercises are underway in sevendivisions, and police in Nottingham and South Wales arealso conducting stop and search pilots. A report from theMPS Stop and Search Working Group which ismonitoring the pilot work in London, said:31

Let’s get it right‘Our study has underlined the need to meet twoclear duties. The first is to be fair in the way weoperate. The second is to be effective in protectingcommunities. The challenge for the police serviceis to reconcile fairness to the individual withprotection for communities.’The extent to which stop and search is effective in reducing crimeis debatable. Police services believe it is an invaluable tool fordetecting crime when effectively targetted. On the other hand,there is a long history of confrontation and hostility betweenfrontline police officers and local communities because of theperceived unfairness of the use of stop, and stop and search,powers. Emerging research and statistics confirm theseperceptions.There is also the low strike rate of searches leading toarrest and the fact that a great many people are subject tointrusive police powers for no result.The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report commented on the‘widely held view that junior officers discriminate inpractice at operational level’. It continues:‘If there was one area of complaint that wasuniversal it was the issue of “stop and search”.Nobody in the minority ethnic communitiesbelieves that the complex arguments which aresometimes used to explain the figures as to stopand search are valid.’ (45.8)‘It is pointless for the police service to try tojustify the disparity in these figures purely ormainly in terms of the other factors which areidentified. The majority of police officers whotestified before us accepted that an element of thedisparity was the result of discrimination.’ (45.10)The Government has accepted the Report’srecommendation that these powers should be retained, butnot its further recommendations about recording andmonitoring all stops. Future Home Office research is tolook at current practice on recording all stops, and pilotprojects on managing stop and search effectively areunderway in the MPS. Further decisions will be made inthe light of the findings.A revised Code of Practice on stop and search wasapproved by Parliament in March 1999. It includes a newnote for guidance which emphasises the importance ofsupervising officers considering and tackling evidencethat stop and search is being used in a discriminatory way.However it does not help to define or explain reasonablesuspicion, and the need to avoid discrimination or to makestereotyped assumptions. The new section on managementand supervision of stop and search is welcome but needsto be stronger.The Government response to the Stephen LawrenceInquiry Report recommendations is disappointing. A farreachingreview of the purpose, use and management ofs1 PACE powers would be a positive development.Police ‘culture’‘Racial prejudice does manifest itselfoccasionally in the behaviour of a fewofficers in the street. It may be all tooeasy for some officers, faced with whatthey see as the inexorably rising tide ofstreet crime, to lapse into an unthinkingassumption that all young black peopleare potential criminals.’Lord Scarman’s report, 1981‘For their part, the police sometimesview members of ethnic minority groups,and black people in particular, as“problematic”. They tend to perceivethem as being disproportionatelyinvolved in certain types of crime and,correspondingly, have heightenednotions about the “suspiciousness” oftheir behaviour.’‘Entry into the Criminal Justice System’, HomeOffice, 1998Despite a 16-year gap between these two remarks, theproblems of police perceptions of minority communitiespersist.Operation Eagle Eye in London was designed to increasethe detection of street robberies. These crimes are ofserious concern to all communities and clearly it is ineveryone’s interest that they are tackled effectively, withthe right suspects being targeted. However the way inwhich the campaign was launched, by a statement fromthe MPS Commissioner, made it appear that young blackmen were to be the main target and were held primarily32

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 6 SUSPECTS AND DEFENDANTSresponsible for the majority of these offences. Out ofcontext, the launch of this campaign antagonised thosewho should have worked in partnership with the police;and it reinforced negative perceptions and stereotypes ofyoung black men as criminals.It is not possible to mount similar campaigns against theperpetrators of most other types of crime, as victimsusually do not know, for example, who burgles theirhome. Prison statistics reveal that white people are morelikely to be sentenced for burglary than black. A highprofile campaign which focuses on one group of suspectsin this way, out of context to other types of crime, can beextremely damaging and reinforces prejudiced attitudeson the part of officers and the wider public. It is alsodamaging to those who are the suspects:‘Young black men feel criminalised by the mediaand by the police with whom they interact in theireveryday lives. They become demoralised anddevelop a kind of paranoia whereby they assume aperson standing or sitting next to them willperceive them to be a mugger or a rapist … suchcriminalisation is sometimes used to justifypolicing strategies which disproportionately targetyoung African Caribbean males. Thoseinterviewed were used to being stopped, searchedand questioned about their possessions andmovements. Experiences were similar: the youths’mode of dress had been used to justify – wherejustification had been offered – their being stoppedand sometimes detained.’‘This is Where I Live: Stories and Pressures inBrixton’, Runnymede Trust, 1996Better ways must be found to involve local communitiesin planning future campaigns against crime which,hopefully, the new consultation channels will ensure.The knowledge that young black people are more likely tobe unemployed, excluded from school and out on thestreet is sometimes used to account for the numbers ofsearches of young black men. The following extracts fromattitude surveys and discussions with officers inTottenham in 1996 highlight this:‘People from different backgrounds reacteddifferently when approached by an officer, and thismight make the officer suspicious. From whiteyoung men it was often the lack of a reasonableexplanation for what they were doing. From blackyoung men this was often a question of attitude:“West Indians have a more excitable culture”, saidone officer.’‘The presence of large numbers of young blackpeople on the street was given repeatedly as areason for searching. For many young people withno money there was nowhere else to go but thestreet, where they came to police attention.’‘Descriptions of white suspects tended to be fullerthan descriptions of black suspects. Given thehigher rate of unemployment among young blackmen, they were more likely to be on the streetsand if a victim’s description came close to whatofficers observed, then officers were obliged tocarry out the search.’‘Policing Local Communities’, NACRO 1997Although the statements about school exclusions andunemployment are true, and even if much of one type ofcrime (street robbery) in one city (London) is indeedcarried out by young black men, it is not logical to moveto the belief that all young black men are criminals. Ayoung man in Tottenham said: ‘Some of the police are allright, so why do they think all black people are criminals?We treat them as individuals but they treat us all the same– no respect!’.Socio-economic factors may quite rightly be used – incontext and without sensationalism – to explain what isgoing on, and to develop strategies involving otheragencies – education, local authorities, training providersand employers, for example – to redress inequality. Alltoo often, however, poorly grasped ‘socio-babble’becomes an excuse to justify unfair practices.Debates about the continued existence of the ‘canteenculture’ in the police (and indeed in other agencies) haverecently been transformed into a debate about‘institutional racism’. This question arose during Part II ofthe Stephen Lawrence Inquiry.In 1998, the new president of ACPO, Chief ConstableJohn Newing of Derbyshire, said:‘We pick on people because they appear to bedifferent and officers have a stereotype of them.You can’t explain it other than by institutionalracism and the stereotyping of young blackpeople.’33

Let’s get it rightA better description might be ‘structural’ discrimination,in that the daily working practices and organisationalculture leads to differences in the way criminal justicepowers are applied to different groups of people. This isnot restricted by any means to police services. It is thisthat must be tackled: by training, by stronger managementand supervision; and by better analysis of the informationavailable to police managers about use of particular policepowers.West Midlands Police has adopted a policy of policingwhat it terms ‘vulnerable’ communities. This meanstaking an overview of services to victims of crime anddealing with suspects – a co-ordinated approach to localcommunity needs. The new police crime preventionpartnerships with local authorities may also be a route tochanging police attitudes and working culture byencouraging more contacts with local people.The police are organised on semi-military lines, with rigidhierarchical structures, and insistence on formality oflanguage such as ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’ when addressingsuperiors. This formality may well be artificial, maskingwhat is really going on outside the police station awayfrom direct supervision, perpetuating hidebound workingmethods and obstructing cultural change. It may be timefor a more drastic overhaul of police culture, not restrictedto race relations but designed to improve police servicesfor all communities.Quality of serviceIn 1990 a national statement of common purpose wasadopted for police services, which includes a strategy forquality of service. Setting performance standards thatmeasure satisfaction levels in different communities,clear-up rates for racial attacks, or time spent oncommunity policing offer a concrete way to assessservices and monitor improvements.For example, Sussex Police Authority in 1998 adopted anew type of performance indicator, not restricted tonumbers of arrests or stop and searches, but relating toworking with local communities to solve local problems.It states:‘To allow officers specifically engaged incommunity problem-solving policing to spend atleast 66% of their time on this work.’New policing objectiveThe Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report recommended anew Ministerial Priority for the police, which has beenaccepted by the Government as a policing objective for allareas:‘To increase trust and confidence in policingamongst minority ethnic communities.’In 1999/2000, performance in meeting this objective willbe measured by:numbers of recorded racist incidentsthe use of stop and search procedures and their impacton different ethnic groupslevels of recruitment, retention and progression ofethnic minority staffsurveys of public satisfaction, where they areavailable, by different ethnic group.The Government is to consult widely about devising morecomprehensive performance indicators for future years,which will provide a clear, public measurement of policeforces’ performance on race equality and with links to theHome Secretary’s other priorities for policing.Use of force and deaths in custodyConcerns about the use of long-handled batons and theintroduction of CS spray have increased in the 1990s.There has also been growing concern about the highproportion of black deaths in police custody.In its 1996 report, ‘Lessons from Tragedies’, the LambethCommunity Police Consultative Group analysed thecircumstances of 213 deaths in police custody in Londonfrom 1986 to 1995 and made a series of recommendationsfor improvement. The Home Office Police ResearchGroup also investigated 380 deaths nationally from 1990to 1996 in its 1997 report, ‘Policing Racially MotivatedIncidents’.Recommendations in the two reports cover medicaltraining, detoxification centres, CCTV and cell design,health and behaviour, and communication. The use ofrestraint and the dangers of positional asphyxiation arehighlighted and the Lambeth report stresses the need forcommunication with the community about theinvestigation of cases and their outcomes. The Home34

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 6 SUSPECTS AND DEFENDANTSOffice now publishes annual information about deaths inpolice custody that includes a breakdown by ethnic origin.It is essential that the recommendations above are put intoeffect to reassure local communities.More evaluation of the risks and benefits attached to CSspray and long-handled batons would also be desirable.A new community policing?‘There is a greater awareness that thepolice cannot win the battle againstcrime without the support of thecommunities they serve. As communitiesbecome more plural, gaining their trustwill require both improvements in thequality of service they receive and theadoption – as a core element of allpolicing activity – of a communityfocused strategy which recognisesdiversity and is underpinned by wellarticulated policies.’‘More police can increase crime if they aresystematically stigmatizing in the way they dealwith citizens. More police can reduce crime if theyare systematically reintegrative in the way theydeal with citizens.’An integrative approach, and the new local communitypartnerships, gives fresh impetus to the older concepts ofcommunity policing and accountability endorsed by LordScarman.The work of ACPOACPO (the Association of Chief Police Officers) has beendemonstrating top level commitment to race andcommunity relations for some years. A Task Force onRace Issues, chaired by the ACPO President, put raceequality at the top of the agenda of police leadership. It isdeveloping a diversity strategy which will apply to allACPO work.Its standing sub-committee on Race and CommunityRelations has published a strategy based on four mainissues:‘Winning the Race’, HM Inspectorate ofConstabulary, 1997nnminority and vulnerable groupsmonitoringThe need to revitalise concepts of accountability andcommunity policing is increasingly recognised, togetherwith a move towards problem-solving policing andtargetting use of intelligence.Recent initiatives (for example in Thames Valley Police)involve restorative justice and mediation schemes. Thisapproach has strong implications for good race andcommunity relations, not least in ensuring all suspectshave equal opportunities to benefit from diversion intomediation schemes.At a deeper level, however, this type of approach meansthat police need to understand the concept of an inclusivesociety in which they have a central and fundamental role.The present system of policing involves stigmatisingthose who come to police attention; it justifies the policerole and the criminal justice response to crime. Anintegrative or inclusive approach that diverts people fromthe criminal justice system has the opposite effect.According to John Braithwaite, in ‘Crime, Shame andReintegration’:nncriminal justice system partnershipsrace and community relations training.‘Our purpose is to provide a lead for the policeservice in the delivery of an equitable service toall communities, with particular emphasis on theneeds of minority and vulnerable groups. We willachieve this by developing effective strategicworking partnerships and providing guidance anddirection to the service.’ (ACPO StrategyDocument)It has worked with the Home Office to publish ‘In thistogether’, a good practice guide to multi-agency working.In addition to extensive work on tackling racist crime,described in more detail in chapter 8, it has developedpolicies to deal with other types of hate crime, such ashomophobic attacks, on considering child prostitutes asvictims, and on mental illness.It has issued guidance to all forces on the use of ethnicmonitoring, in addition to running national seminars on35

Let’s get it rightmonitoring. It is also involved in developing guidance onstop and search and the pilot projects that are under wayin London and elsewhere.Winning the Race RevisitedIn its 1999 report on police and community relations,‘Winning the Race Revisited’, the Inspectorate ofConstabulary noted that:‘Whilst a number of forces are at the cutting edgeof progress in this field, the approach by a largesection of the police service is less thansatisfactory …There is a lack of consistency andthe pockets of good practice identified tend to bethe product of a committed few rather thanrepresenting corporate endeavour.’The Inspectorate found that many recommendations in itsearlier report had been ‘sidelined’ with few forces puttingthem high on the agenda. Community and race relationsissues ‘remain peripheral rather than at the core ofpolicing for many forces’. Only a quarter of forces hadconducted community and race relations audits; only halfhad procedures in place to ensure that policy, strategic andoperational decision-making took account of communityand race relations; under half included assessments ofattitudes towards policing diverse communities in theirappraisal systems. Work with schools and colleges haddeteriorated.In April 1999 a new police disciplinary regime wasintroduced for all police forces.Crown Prosecution ServiceThe CPS Code of Practice specifies that CrownProsecutors must be fair, independent and objective;personal views of the ethnic origin of the victim, witnessor offender must not influence their decision.In 1989, the CPS adopted an equality policy and aprogramme of action on race which covers all aspects ofCPS work. The previous chapter described employmentand training developments in the CPS, and a later chapterdiscusses the CPS work on prosecuting racial incidents.A Consultative Group on Race was established nationallyin 1996. The Commission for Racial Equality andNACRO are members. The aim of the group is to adviseon CPS policy and practice on race issues. It meetsregularly and reviews progress on the programme ofaction on race issues.In addition to its racial incident monitoring, the CPS plansto start monitoring casework decisions as soon astechnology allows. Meanwhile at Hull University, DrBonny Mhlanga is conducting a study in 20 branchesaround the country to see whether ethnicity plays a part inthe CPS treatment of young offenders. The study islooking at discontinuances, bail recommendations, modeof trial recommendations and reduction of charges inassaults and robberies. It will look at age, sex,employment status, principal offence, previous record andplea as well as ethnic origin. It is expected to report in1999.The CPS is in the process of a reorganisation so that itsbranches match police force areas, and other changes arelikely in the light of the Glidewell Review. There havebeen previous reorganisations, and it is to the credit of theCPS that race issues have not lost their priority during thisperiod.The Glidewell report raises the question of ‘localanswerability’ and suggests that the new police and localauthority crime prevention partnerships would be asuitable forum in which CPS branches could participate.It is often difficult for the CPS at local level to keepcommunities informed about its work, as it cannotcomment on individual cases before they go to court. Thiswould be a positive way in which communities couldhave contact with the CPS without compromisingconfidentiality or breaching the legal process.Legal professionAs noted in the previous chapter, both the Law Societyand the Bar Council have equality policies; each also havelong-standing race relations committees. A great deal ofprogress has been made in regard to entry into the legalprofessions, although problems remain.In terms of suspects and defendants and criminal work,the proposed restrictions to jury trial and new fast trackprocedures for bringing cases to court may adverselyaffect minority defendants.36

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 6 SUSPECTS AND DEFENDANTSResearch shows that black defendants are more likely toopt for trial by jury – although the reasons for this are notclear. Although there is no formal plea bargaining systemin the UK, discounts are given at sentencing for timelyguilty pleas. New rules about disclosure of evidence andplea and direction hearings may further increase thepressure on defendants to plead guilty to lesser chargesrather than risk trial. Pressure to hold early first hearingsleaves less time for duty solicitors to get backgroundinformation about the defendant and the case. Given thepossibility of institutional discrimination at earlier stages,it is crucial that solicitors are not pressured into rushingtheir clients or going to court without enough time to geta complete picture.It is important that the Government takes account ofpossible discrimination when considering comments onthese new proposals, to ensure that there is not adisproportionate impact on black and other minoritydefendants. According to Courteney Griffiths QC:‘Black people appear to be treated differentlythroughout the criminal justice system. Trial byjury is a key safeguard and African Caribbeans aremore likely than Asians or whites to use it.’In its work at local level with Area Committees, theNACRO Race and Criminal Justice Unit has welcomedthe commitment and enthusiasm shown by most criminaljustice practitioners in the statutory agencies. However, itis rare for the legal professions at this level to be soclosely involved – with some exceptions. Bar Council andLaw Society national policies do not always seem to havean impact in terms of services for minority defendants atlocal level.Local firms of solicitors and chambers need to play theirpart in ensuring a fair and equitable justice system. Forsolicitors, new arrangements for legal aid franchisinginclude a condition that to qualify for a franchise, firmsmust have a written equal opportunities policy that is ineffective operation.At courtAs described in the previous chapter, the work of theJudicial Studies Board in training for sentencers was akey development in the 1990s. The introduction of theCourt Charter, and the work of the Trials Issues Groupnationally and locally has also brought aboutimprovements in court services for all users, includingwitnesses, victims, suspects and defendants. Moreinformation is available in different languages, andfrontline staff such as ushers have been trained in humanawareness and customer care so that they may deal fairlyand courteously with everyone coming to court.The Justices’ Clerks’ Society (JCS) published a report in1993, ‘Black People in Magistrates’ Courts’. It includes34 recommendations covering all aspects of court workfrom employment of staff to facilities for court users.According to the report:‘As the representative body for the principal legaladvisors to magistrates the JCS recognises itsresponsibility for taking action to ensure that thesystem of magistrates’ courts operates fairly, andis seen to do so. Unless all sections of thecommunity have confidence in the justice systemthe system is undermined.‘It is the view of the JCS that all who work withinthe justice process in whatever capacity have aresponsibility to act.’As a result of its report, more and more courts areadopting equality policies and programmes of action onrace.A working group continues to meet and is reviewing theextent to which these recommendations have been putinto practice.The value of these developments is without doubt for allcourt users. But while there has been significant progressin terms of training, recruitment and services forwitnesses, there is an urgent need for ethnic monitoring ofsentencing decisions.As chapter 4 of this report described, the Hood researchfound that black defendants had a five to 8% greaterchance of receiving prison sentences at Crown Courtsthan similar white defendants. Research also shows thatblack defendants found guilty receive longer averageprison sentences than white defendants. However, anotherstudy published in 1998, ‘Sentencing Practice: AnExamination of Decisions in Magistrates’ Courts and theCrown Court in the Mid-1990s’, looked at 3,000 cases atmagistrates’ courts and 2,000 cases at Crown Courts. Itfound that:37

Let’s get it right‘There was no evidence that black or Asianoffenders were more or less likely than whites toreceive a custodial sentence when other factorswere taken into account.’This research – that seems to contradict other findings –underlines the need for everyone – prosecutors, lawyers,sentencers, defendants and of course the public – to bebetter informed about race and sentencing. Monitoring ofsentencing decisions is a starting point to answering thesequestions and reassuring all concerned that the courtprocess is above reproach.Civil proceedingsIn two key areas, for the purpose of this report, there isincreasing overlap between the civil and the criminaljustice systems.The Human Rights Act 1998 – and particularly Article 14which prohibits discrimination – may lead to increasedlitigation from minority claimants and an increasednumber of litigants in person. The 1998 Crime andDisorder Act includes provisions which blur theboundaries between criminal and civil: for example, antisocialbehaviour orders, parenting orders, and local childcurfews, which may start as civil proceedings; butbreaches of the orders will lead those involved to thecriminal courts. It is clearly important that there is nodiscrimination at the civil stage.Those making decisions about anti-social behaviour, orappropriate parenting, will need to be aware of culturaldifferences and trained to avoid discrimination in usingtheir discretion. Monitoring the use of these new orderswill help to detect whether they are beginning to be useddisproportionately against any particular group.Immigration and asylumNew immigration and asylum procedures will come intoforce with the Immigration and Asylum Bill 1998.Immigration officers will continue to make initialdecisions about asylum; administrative detention forunlimited periods will continue (although bail hearingswill be heard by magistrates); many detainees will be heldin prisons although not charged with any offence (seechapter 7); and immigration officers will have extendedpowers of arrest and search.Immigration Appeal Tribunals will become courts ofrecord and will include only legally qualified members;previously there was an opportunity for lay involvementwhich helped to produce more diverse tribunal panels.In his evidence to the Special Standing Committee of theHouse of Commons on the Immigration and Asylum Bill,Anver Jeevanjee, a lay member of immigration and othertribunals, commented on this aspect of the Bill:‘I believe that the injection and activeparticipation of leading members of the blackcommunity at the Immigration Appeal Tribunalwent some way in providing confidence with thefairness of the review process over immigrationdecisions. Moreover these black members werealso able to bring in their greater knowledge of thecustoms, culture and local sensitivity to the entiredecision-making process … the decision to abolishlay membership will instantly wipe out allexperienced black participation from this reviewprocess. Future decisions will be taken by a verynarrow band of white middle-class male lawyers,focused on purely legalistic terms.‘It is my humble view that it would be an entirelyretrograde step for the next millennium,particularly in the light of the Lawrence inquiryand proposals to build bridges across the racialdivides in our society and efforts at allowing moreblack participation in the decision-making areas ofBritish life.’A high proportion of those affected are from African andAsian countries. There is a widespread perception inminority communities that the immigration systemdiscriminates against racial minorities. It is essential thatthe new procedures are implemented fairly, with ethnicmonitoring of their use, accountability and openness, andtraining for all those involved, from immigration staff atentry points, to magistrates and tribunal members andthose running detention centres.38

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 6 SUSPECTS AND DEFENDANTSACTION POINTSPolice services mustImplement the Government’s ActionPlan in response to the StephenLawrence Inquiry Reportrecommendations.Take action on ‘Winning the Race’ and‘Winning the Race Revisited’.Work with partnerships to involve localminority communities in developingcrime reduction strategies.Use s95 information constructively tomeasure and improve local services.The legal professions to promote theirrace equality policies and practicesmore forcefully and play a greater rolein the work of Area Criminal JusticeLiaison Committees.Ethnic monitoring of sentencingdecisions must be introduced.Civil courts must be alert to thepotential discriminatory impact ofparenting or anti-social behaviourorders.Training and ethnic monitoring mustbe introduced to ensure the newimmigration and asylum proceduresdo not have a discriminatory impacton black and Asian asylum seekers.39

Let’s get it rightCHAPTER7After sentence:prison andprobationservicesThe probation serviceThere are at present 54 probation services in England andWales. They are – among many other duties - responsiblefor preparing reports to court before sentence of anoffender, and supervising those given communitypunishments rather than custodial sentences.In 1997, Home Office figures show that 7% of thosecommencing probation orders, 10% of those commencingcommunity service orders and 10% commencingcombination orders were from minority groups. 10% ofpre-sentence reports were prepared on minoritydefendants. Home Office figures also suggest that blackpeople were two to three times more likely than whitepeople or people from other ethnic groups to start acriminal supervision order.Black people are therefore over-represented as offendersin probation caseloads but not to the same extent as theyare, for example, in police stop and search figures or inthe prison population (see below).The Hood research mentioned in chapter 4 looked at noncustodialsentences awarded in the Crown Courts. It foundthat judges were more likely to choose a ‘high tariff’alternative to custody for black defendants than for whites;black adult males were dealt with at a higher point in thescale of punishment than were similar white offenders.Neither African Caribbean nor Asian defendants wereplaced on probation as often as white defendants. Partly,the Hood research said, this was due to probation officersless readily recommending probation (they recommendedprobation for 26% of white defendants compared to 16%of black and 9% of Asian defendants). Fewer blackdefendants had social inquiry reports (as pre-sentencereports were then called). In addition:‘Those black adults who were recommended forprobation were still less likely to receive it thanwhites and more likely, if they did not go toprison, to get instead a more severe sentence:either a CSO or a suspended term ofimprisonment. The same was true forrecommendations for a community service order:substantially more blacks got instead a suspendedsentence.’Hood observed:‘It is widely feared that this “up-tariffing” as it has40

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 7 AFTER SENTENCEbeen commonly and crudely called is a factorwhich puts blacks at more risk for receiving acustodial sentence should they re-appear on freshcharges.’It is therefore important that probation services can offerto sentencers a range of non-custodial penaltiesappropriate for all members of the community.Probation services, ACOP (the Association of ChiefOfficers of Probation) and the staff associations NAPO(National Association of Probation Officers) and ABPO(Association of Black Probation Officers) have beenworking to achieve equality in both pre-sentence reportsand provision of community punishments for many years.At local level, different services have a range of projectstargeted at minority offenders and work closely with otherstatutory and voluntary agencies to develop these further.In its work with Area Committees, NACRO has comeacross many examples of good practice that could serveas models for other areas.Greater Manchester Probation Service (GMPS) providedsupport and resources to enable the first ever conferenceof black prisoner support groups to be held. It alsoconducted user surveys: in 1994 a survey of informationon 50 black offenders looked at offence type, risk to thepublic and sentence, as well as personal details such asage. Key issues identified were: the high risk ofimprisonment faced by black offenders; low take up ratefor probation supervision; and black prisoners servinglong sentences.In 1997, a report called ‘Black Voices Telling Us HowThey Feel’ was prepared for GMPS by the Partners ofPrisoners and Families Support Group and the BlackPrisoners Support Group. The researchers interviewed 36black probation service users to look at what services andfacilities were offered, and what barriers prevented moreuse of these services.The survey found that users had a positive view of theprobation service but more needed to be done to makesure that they were aware of what was on offer. There wasa difference between offenders on probation orderscompared to those being supervised after custody, whowere more negative and viewed supervision as a doublepunishment. The three women in the survey pointed outthe problems that arose because of their caringresponsibilities.In 1996 GMPS commissioned an independent researcherto evaluate hostel provision for offenders. Only about 5%of residents came from minority ethnic groups, althoughat the time they made up 13% of the local prisonpopulation. The research looked at why there were so fewminority clients in supported offender hostels, and whatorganisations could do to make their projects moreculturally sensitive to the needs of minority residents. Itconcluded that:‘Despite a strong desire to develop a moreculturally sensitive service for ethnic minorityresidents of offender accommodation, the majorityof providers find it difficult to implement effectivepolicies which bring about change.’The report made recommendations about referrals, linksto minority ethnic agencies, monitoring, training, creatinga multi-cultural environment, customer surveys, and theemployment of black staff. It recommended that eachaccommodation project adopt an action plan forimplementing these recommendations.This approach to work on race helps to highlight keyissues for future probation service work:Youth offending teamsThe Crime and Disorder Act 1998 includes a newstructure for national and local youth justice work,along with new sentencing powers to deal with youngoffenders. Probation services will need to work closelywith other agencies in youth offending teams and toensure that all young people receive fair treatmentunder the new provisions and have equal access topositive programmes to counter offending behaviour.Government guidance on establishing youth offendingteams includes the need for YOTs to undertake ethnicmonitoring, to take account of information publishedunder s95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and,importantly, to consult local communities to ensureyouth justice arrangements deal fairly with all youngpeople.The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales,established in September 1998, will monitor the youthjustice system.Support for voluntary and community groupsProbation services should work closely with andsupport community-based groups working withoffenders, as in the example above in Manchester, or41

Let’s get it rightas Middlesex Probation Service has done with theBreakFree Project in Tottenham.Promoting community-based sentences forminority offendersProbation services need to ensure that they can offer arange of community-based sentences for minorityoffenders that will help to prevent sentencers imposingcustodial sentences. Programmes should, for example,cater for a diverse caseload, as shown by the earlierexamples. Providing the same service for all thosesupervised is not necessarily the same as providing afair service, as different people have different needs.ResettlementProbation services should work closely with prisons toprovide resettlement services for minority prisoners intheir areas – this is also mentioned below.Work with perpetrators of racially motivatedoffencesIn 1998 ACOP published ‘From Murmur to Murder’, aresource pack for working with racist offenders. It wasdeveloped by probation practitioners in the MidlandsProbation Training Consortium and John Kay,Assistant Chief Probation Officer for Nottinghamshire,under the auspices of the CRE Leadership Challenge.It sets out appropriate programmes of supervision fordealing with racist offenders aimed at reducing thistype of behaviour, and is suitable for use in all areas ofthe country.As other agencies begin to implement the StephenLawrence Inquiry Report recommendations, it isimportant that the probation service complements thiswork by using ‘From Murmur to Murder’ to deal withoffenders.(using the earlier terminology of that time) as WestIndian, Guyanese or African, rising to 10% in 1989, 11%in 1994 and 12% in 1997. The figures for black women inprison have risen from 12% in 1985, 17% in 1987, fallingto 10% in 1989 but rising to 22% in 1990; in 1997 thepercentage was 19%. The proportion of Asian men andwomen has stayed fairly level throughout at about 3% and1-2% respectively.A large proportion of women in prison are from outsidethe UK, many imprisoned for importing drugs. Whenforeign nationals are excluded from the figures, in 199710% of the men in prison and 13% of women were black,compared to 2% of those aged over 10 in the generalpopulation.Convicted black prisoners also consistently over thisperiod have been given longer sentences than whiteprisoners.In some London prisons, almost half of those held onremand are from minority groups.This high proportion of minority prisoners has implicationsfor the Prison Service which have long been recognisedand acted upon. The Service has a long history of work onrace relations, issuing its first instruction to governors aslong ago as 1983. Ten years later a detailed andcomprehensive manual was produced covering all aspectsof prison life. This manual was streamlined and reissued asa new Prison Service order on Race Relations in 1997.Each prison must appoint a race relations liaison officer,and a race relations management team which must meetregularly and review policy and practice. The orderspecifies standards for what must be provided in terms ofdiet, goods in the canteen, access to religious services,material in libraries, access to accommodation and towork. A comprehensive system of ethnic monitoring isalso specified.The Prison ServiceThe ethnic origins of prisoners have been measured since1985, and although different categories have been usedover time, meaning that not all figures are directlycomparable, it is clear that black people in particular haveconsistently been over-represented in the prisonpopulation throughout this period, compared to theirproportion in the general population.In 1985, 8% of the male prison population was classifiedDespite top level commitment and the detailed racerelations manual, there have consistently been problemsputting the policy into practice, identified by NACRO inits local work with prisons, by the CRE, and, crucially, byrace relations liaison officers and other prison staffthemselves.With the sharp rise in the prison population after 1994,severe budget cuts and a new emphasis on security afterhigh profile escapes from Whitemoor and Parkhurst, itwas perhaps inevitable that race relations would fall down42

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 7 AFTER SENTENCEthe Prison Service agenda. There are also considerablevariations in the way both the previous and the newPrison Service orders are put into practice in differentprisons. The Service must now regain much of the groundit has lost and make new efforts to take the work forwardconsistently in all prisons.There are positive signs that this is underway. In 1997, thethen Director General of the Prison Service, Richard Tilt,spoke at the first ever national conference of Black PrisonerSupport Groups. He stressed his commitment to ensuringrace equality in prisons, and announced the establishmentof a new national race relations group, which he himselfchaired (the CRE and NACRO are members).The 1997/98 report from the Prison Service race relationsgroup gave an indication of how far the new PrisonService order was being implemented. Each prisoncompletes a checklist each year, showing what has beendone. This self-report checklist cannot of course reflectthe whole picture, and work is under way to improvereporting and measurement of progress, as well as toextend the areas of prison life that are subject tomonitoring to, for example, the incentives and privilegesscheme and home detention curfews.The report concludes:‘By their nature, the returns from establishmentsdo not allow the group to state categorically thatthere is no discrimination in prisons … Localreturns suggest that ethnic monitoring of the areasspecified in the Prison Service order is beingcarried out … almost all establishments have setup the required management structures andprocedures to deal with race relations.‘The general picture from the information receivedis positive. However there are areas whereperformance needs to be improved … racerelations training, the handling of reported racialincidents, and the development of links with localcommunity groups are areas which fall into thiscategory.’NACRO is currently conducting a snapshot survey amongprisoners and prison staff in a sample of prisons, askingeveryone in the prison about their knowledge of thepolicy and their views on race issues. Smaller discussiongroups are held at the same time for both staff andprisoners. Detailed feedback is being provided forRESPONDIn December 1998, the Prison Serviceadopted a new programme called‘RESPOND: Racial Equality for Staff andPrisoners’.It has five strategic aims:nnnnnconfronting racial harasssment anddiscriminationensuring fairness in recruitment,appraisal, promotion and selectiondeveloping and supporting ethnicminority staffensuring equal opportunities for ethnicminority prisonersrecruiting ethnic minority staff.Each of the RESPOND aims has a set ofoutcomes, targets, means of measurementand key actions for 1999-2000. It waslaunched at the Prison Service conferencein 1999. A race equality advisor is to beappointed to help the service to take thisforward.governors and an overall report will be published in 1999that, it is hoped, will assist the Service to identifypractical steps to improve race relations in prisons.NACRO’s Race and Criminal Justice Unit has alsoworked closely with prisons over the past six years as partof its local inter-agency work. In some areas, meetings oflocal race relations liaison officers have been convened,so that RRLOs can share information and ideas, sharelocal resources and knowledge and work together moreclosely to implement the race relations order. Forexample, a larger prison with access to computer facilitiescan help smaller prisons to analyse the results of ethnicmonitoring. Joint training sessions can be held to makebest use of scarce training resources.The points below are based on this local experience anddraw very much on views from prison staff themselves.(Questions of recruitment and training were mentioned inchapter 5).43

Let’s get it rightKey issues for the Prison ServiceRace work in prisons must be given a higherpriority both nationally and at local level.One way to do this is to ensure that, as suggested bythe Director General, race relations management teamsare chaired by the governing governors of each prison,to signal the priority attached to the work.Prison Service policy needs to be publicised amongboth prisoners and staff.Induction programmes for prisoners should includesessions on Prison Service race relations policy andwhat behaviour will not be tolerated. Similarly,information should be routinely circulated to staffabout the RRMT’s work, local community contactsand so on.RRLOs need more time to carry out their racerelations work, plus more authority to implementdecisions and policy. They should report directly tothe RRMT chair.The need for more time, authority and resources hasbeen expressed continually by RRLOs. There are manyextremely committed and hardworking prison staff whoact as RRLOs on top of their own work, often doingextra work in their own time. Reporting directly to theRRMT chair, particularly if this is the governor, wouldhelp to raise their authority within the prison.A consistent approach to ethnic monitoring must bedeveloped.In some prisons it is almost impossible for a hardpressedRRLO to find time to collect the monitoringinformation, far less analyse it and present it to theRRMT for action.The Prison Service should provide assistance forprisoner support networks to enable them to assistprisoners more effectively.The Prison Service carries out most of its work onrace in isolation. It needs to work much more closelywith community groups at all levels, from policyformulation at headquarters level to local links. Thereare a small number of poorly funded minority prisonersupport groups. They could offer invaluable support toboth prisoners and prison staff and provide access tolocal community resources. However, they are in aprecarious financial position and need more support.Prisoners should be held as close to theircommunities as possible.Although it is Prison Service policy to try to holdprisoners close to their homes, overcrowding meansthat this is not always possible. Links to communitygroups for foreign nationals are particularly vulnerablewhen prisoners are moved. There are also seriouspotential problems when young offenders from largecities are moved to prisons in rural areas.Board of VisitorsThe Prison Service has successfully recruited moreminority members to prison Board of Visitors; in1997, 7% were from minority groups. However, giventhe far higher proportion of minority prisoners, evenmore diverse membership would be a positive step.The Prison Service could develop an activerecruitment strategy working in co-operation withcommunity groups to attract a more diverse pool ofapplicants. This could include local advertising in theminority press and on radio stations, for example.Racial harassment in prisonsThe Prison Service must ensure that racist incidents –whether between prisoners or staff or both – arereported, recorded, investigated and firmly dealt with.Research in 1994 showed that, among other things, onethirdof Asian prisoners and a quarter of black prisonerssaid they had been victims of racially motivatedincidents from other prisoners; nearly one half of blackprisoners and a third of Asian prisoners said they hadbeen victimised by staff (‘Reported and UnreportedRacial Incidents in Prisons’, Home Office, 1994).The annual report from the race relations group,mentioned above, reported a 21% increase in recordedracist incidents – though some of this may result fromincreased efforts to encourage reporting.A new definition of racist incident has been proposedin the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report and acceptedby the Government for use by all relevant agencies:‘A racist incident is any incident which isperceived to be racist by the victim or any otherperson.’This definition should also be used in the Prison Service.Tackling racist offendingThe Prison Service should complement the work being44

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 7 AFTER SENTENCEdone by probation services to tackle racist offending,by providing courses for perpetrators.Privately-managed prisonsThere are now 12 prisons and two secure training centresfor young offenders managed by private sector companies.In each institution, a Prison Service monitor ensures thatcontract requirements are met. This includes compliancewith the race relations order. It is essential that the samestandards and policies are adhered to in private sectorprisons in work on race. The points above apply to privatesector prisons just as much as state prisons.The South Wales Prisons RRLOs group includes stafffrom Parc, a privately managed young offenderinstitution. Sharing of information and good practiceacross this boundary is felt to be a constructive step bythose involved and is certainly likely to benefit theprisoners who may be moved among prisons in theregion.Chief Inspector of PrisonsA thematic report on race relations in prisons by the ChiefInspector of Prisons could cover both state and privatelymanagedprisons and could provide useful guidance to thePrison Service on how to take forward its race relationswork. Such an inspection should include lay membersfrom outside agencies and groups.In addition, each prison inspection should include anequality specialist on the team – again perhaps recruitedfor specific assignments from voluntary groups or otherexternal agencies – so that race issues are integral to eachinspection and not an added extra for one of the team tocarry out as well as other tasks.Immigration detaineesIn March 1999, 450 detainees were held in immigrationdetention centres. The majority were held in Campsfield(178), Tinsley House (145) and Harmondsworth (90),which are privately managed institutions. Another 518people were held in the prison system, primarily atRochester (189), Haslar (139) and Holloway (21 women).A high proportion of those detained are from African andAsian countries. In March 1999, for example, 23% (425)of the 1,870 people who applied at British ports forasylum came from African countries and 25% (475people) came from Asian countries. Although not allasylum seekers are detained, this gives an indication ofthe proportions of people from different groups who areaffected by administrative detention.The majority of detainees are held for administrativereasons, waiting for decisions on asylum or deportation;they have not been charged with or committed offences(see chapter 6) but are held in similar conditions toconvicted prisoners.At detention centres there is greater freedom ofmovement, but in prisons unconvicted detainees can belocked in cells for most of the day and have limitedaccess to families, support from local communities andlegal advice.In detention there may be language barriers that add toexisting isolation from family and community. Neitherinformation in appropriate languages nor interpreters maybe available.The stress of being detained in this way can havedamaging effects on health; detainees can also be at riskof suicide. Many may have been tortured or otherwisepersecuted in their home countries and detention inprison-like circumstances adds to the damage.Ideally, no detainees should be held in prisons. For alldetainees, the conditions should be more than simplyhumane containment: they should recognise thevulnerability of those being held, meet language, dietaryand religious requirements, and ensure adequate access tocommunity support, legal advice and appropriate NHShealth care. Facilities for the minority of women detaineesshould take account of their circumstances, for example,health care or child care concerns.The staff in detention centres and prisons which holdimmigration detainees should be trained, to ensure theyare able to deal fairly with the diverse range of peoplebeing held.Resettlement and the Rehabilitationof Offenders Act 1974The over-representation of black men and women inprison has implications for resettlement. It is hard for allprisoners to get work with a criminal record; it is even45

Let’s get it rightmore difficult for black prisoners who have also to deal with possiblediscrimination because of their race. Prison overcrowding which leadsto black prisoners being held in prisons many miles away from theirown communities can mean that links to family and friends aredamaged or broken during time in prison. All these factors can affectresettlement in the community after release. Prisons and localprobation services need to work closely with local authorities andcommunity groups to ensure resettlement services for black prisonersare available.The intention of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is toencourage employers not to discriminate against ex-offenders seekingwork. It is generally agreed that stable employment is one of the mostimportant factors towards reducing reoffending. The Act provides thatoffences become ‘spent’, or forgotten, after a certain period of time(apart from people seeking work with children, or in certainoccupations such as the law). The time before offences can be wipeddepends on how long the original sentence was.However, since 1974 sentence lengths have increased considerably forall prisoners, while jobs have become harder to get in the currentemployment market. As noted above, black offenders tend to receivelonger sentences than white offenders, which in turn affects the lengthof time before offences can be considered spent.There is a need to review the Act in the light of sentencing trends toensure that it is not having a discriminatory impact on any group ofprisoners.Criminal Cases Review CommissionWith a remit to investigate cases where miscarriages of justice havebeen alleged, it is crucial that the Commission can demonstratefairness in the way it handles cases submitted to it. Many recent highprofile cases have involved minority defendants.As a result of the Inquiry Report, the Commission has established asteering group drawn from all levels within the organisation. Thegroup has identified three key areas where it will conduct an audit ofwhat is currently happening, identify good practice elsewhere, andalso target in terms of implementation and monitoring performance.These are the role of the Commission: as an employer (ie recruitment,retention and progression); as a service delivery organisation (ie thequality and sensitivity of its casework and decision-making process);and in communicating externally with various audiences.Associated with this activity and any structural changes will be thetraining necessary to ensure the awareness of and sensitivity towardsrace issues is sustained. Ethnic monitoring is conducted on new casesand on employment.ACTION POINTS Probation services must ensurecommunity penalties forminority defendants areprovided and recommended tocourts, and that theirprogrammes meet the needs ofa diverse population. Ethnic monitoring of the newCrime and Disorder Act youthjustice provisions must be usedlocally to ensure fairness ofapplication to all young people. Probation services mustsupport community-abasedgroups which work withoffenders. Fairness, justice and safety inprisons must be given urgentpriority, with more time andresources allocated for the workat local level. Conditions for immigrationdetainees should reflect theirunconvicted status and caterfor the diverse range of peopleheld in detention centres andprisons. Race relations in private prisonsmust be subject to same qualitycontrol as in the state system. The Chief Inspector of Prisonsshould conduct a thematicreview of race relations inprisons. The Government must reviewthe provisions and applicationof the Rehabilitation ofOffenders Act 1974 to ensure itis not discriminatory.46

CHAPTER8Victimsof crimeAt the end of 1998, the Government announced newobjectives for the criminal justice system. They includethe reduction of crime and fear of crime, and to meet theneeds of victims and witnesses. This is crucial not onlyfor the victims of racist offences but also for minorityvictims of crimes in general.Risks of crime‘I don’t think anybody is going to beprosecuted or serve time for the deathof my son. That’s the worst thing Ihave ever faced, to know that thesepeople are going to get away with it.’Neville Lawrence, father of StephenLawrence, 1998People living in minority communities are, according tosuccessive British Crime Surveys (BCS), more at risk ofcrime than people living in wealthier, white areas. Forexample, the 1998 survey shows that 10% of peopleliving in multi-ethnic, low income areas are at risk ofburglary, compared to 6% of all respondents; 27% are atrisk of vehicle-related theft compared to the average of18%; and 8% are at risk of violence, compared to 5% inthe whole survey.According to ‘Ethnicity and Victimisation’, a report of the1996 survey:‘During 1995, black people and Asians generallyhad a statistically higher risk of victimisation thanwhite people. In particular, Pakistanis andBangladeshis were most at risk of all types ofcrime.’Social and economic factors, together with the youngerage of minority populations, may account for much of thisgreater risk.Risks of victimisation: % victimised onceor more in 1995White Black Indian Pakistani/BangladeshiHousehold vandalism 4.4 3.5 4.3 5.9Burglary 6.0 9.2 9.0 11.4All vehicle theft – owners 19.2 25.3 22.7 26.6Vehicle vandalism – owners 8.3 8.5 11.9 14.2Assault* 4.5 5.0 3.4 4.0Robbery 0.6 0.9 1.2 2.2Theft from person 1.4 2.7 2.8 1.8Threats 3.8 4.6 8.9 10.1Source: Home Office Statistical Bulletin 6/98* Assault comprises common assault and wounding.47

Let’s get it rightWhatever the explanation, these findings haveimplications for the levels of policing and other criminaljustice services needed for communities most at risk.They also have implications for services for witnesses atcourt – for example provision of information leaflets andsigns at court in languages appropriate to each court area,access to interpreters, availability of alternative methodsof taking the oath or affirming.The inter-agency Trials Issues Group (TIG) has agreednational standards for witness care in the criminal justicesystem. These are mirrored by local inter-agencyagreements in most areas, which may vary according tolocal circumstances. They set out the standards whichwitnesses should expect when they come to court andwho is responsible for which standard.Underlying principles include dealing with all witnessessensitively with regard to differences in language,expression, religion and customs of people from minoritygroups; giving priority to cases where people may be atrisk of intimidation; and ensuring suitable interpreters areprovided who are familiar with the language but also withlegal and court expressions.Finding suitable interpreters is not easy. The NationalRegister of Public Service Interpreters, currentlyadministered by the Institute of Linguists, was set up in1997. It provides details of interpreters, not only for thecriminal justice system, but also the civil justice system,local government, the health service and immigration.In December 1997, the Trials Issues Group launched anational agreement on the arrangements for the attendanceof interpreters in investigations and proceedings withinthe criminal justice system. The arrangements wereintroduced from April 1998.The underlying principle of the agreement is the provisionof a standardised procedure for securing the attendance ofproperly qualified interpreters for criminal investigationsand court proceedings in England and Wales. The aim isthat by the end of 2001 every foreign language interpreterworking in courts and police stations should be selectedfrom the National Register of Public Service Interpreters,which offers a minimum and measurable standard oftraining and quality.An Interpreters Working Group was set up to facilitateimplementation of the national agreement and to promoteits principles. The working group is chaired by the CPSand consists of TIG and interpreter associationrepresentatives.In 1998, a report from an interdepartmental workinggroup, ‘Speaking Up for Justice’, looked at what wasneeded to assist vulnerable and intimidated witnesses. Itput forward 78 recommendations for improvements to thecriminal justice system, including the reporting of crime,the identification of vulnerable or intimidated witnessesand measures intended to assist witnesses before, duringand after the trial. A number of the recommendationsrequire legislation to bring them into effect and thisprocess has commenced by the introduction of the YouthJustice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999. Many of theserecommendations will be helpful in encouraging moreminority victims of crime to report crimes, and inprotecting victims of racial incidents who may feelparticularly intimidated at court.Many people in minority communities feel that crimesagainst them are not taken seriously by the criminaljustice system, and that they do not receive the standardof services their communities deserve. The 1994 BCSasked respondents about their satisfaction with responsesto crimes they have reported. They show:Asians and African Caribbeans were less satisfied thanwhites that officers responded immediately to initialcontact, were sufficiently interested in what they said,or put enough effort into dealing with the matter.48% of white respondents felt that they had been keptvery or fairly well informed compared to 34% ofAsians and 33% of African Caribbeans.75% of whites were very or fairly satisfied with theoverall police performance, compared to 61% for bothAsians and African Caribbeans.Racist crimesThe British Crime Survey estimated that in 1995, 382,000offences were considered by the victim to be motivatedby racism (Home Office Statistical Bulletin 6/98). Ofthese, 143,000 were committed against minority ethnicvictims, representing 15% of all crimes against them;238,000 racially motivated incidents were committedagainst white people, 1% of all crimes committed againstthem. The BCS found ‘no firm evidence of a significantchange in the numbers of racially motivated crimesagainst ethnic minorities since 1991’.48

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 8 VICTIMS OF CRIMEIt also estimated that the risk of being the victim of aracially motivated crime for white people was 0.5%,compared to 4% of black people, 5% of Indians and 8%of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.However, a 1997 Policy Studies Institute report, ‘EthnicMinorities in Britain’ also measured the extent of what ittermed ‘low level’ racial harassment. Respondents wereasked whether they had been verbally abused, orthreatened.The PSI results suggest that in 1993/94, 20,000respondents were racially attacked, 40,000 were subjectedto racially motivated property damage and 230,000 peoplewere racially abused or insulted: that is, 250,000 peoplesubjected to some form of racial harassment over a 12-month period, compared to the 143,000 reported by theBCS.Reporting and recordingFewer minority victims than white victims report raciallymotivated crimes to the police: 29% compared to 55% ofwhite victims, according to the BCS (Home OfficeStatistical Bulletin 6/98).Even fewer offences are then recorded by the police.Reported racial incidents1991 7,8821992 7,7341993/94 11,0061994/95 11,8781995/96 12,2221996/97 13,1511997/98 13,878Source: ‘Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System’, HomeOffice 1998Types of offencesThe PSI report describes a ‘racial violence pyramid’, withmurders and serious assaults at the top, followed byincidents reported to the police, then incidents notreported to the police but talked about in the community,and, across the wide base of the triangle, ‘a climate offear, insecurity and intimidation’ caused by damaging‘low level’ harassment.At the top of the pyramid, a 1997 Human Rights WatchHelsinki report, ‘Racist Violence in the United Kingdom’,recorded 14 racially motivated murders between the deathof Rolan Adams in February 1991 and Mohan Sing Kullarin South Wales in November 1994. This includes thedeath in 1993 of Stephen Lawrence. Two more deaths in1998 are still being investigated.Patterns of racially motivated incidentsNumber %Serious crime 159 2Assault 1,607 21Robbery 68 1Theft/burglary 139 2Damage to property 1,498 20Verbal abuse 2,871 38Other 1,231 16Total 7,573 100Source: ‘Policing Racially Motivated Incidents’, Home Office 1997A 1997 Home Office research report, ‘Policing RaciallyMotivated Incidents’, analysed 13,016 incidents recordedby 43 police forces between April 1996 and March 1997.Verbal abuse was the biggest single type of offence,followed by assault and damage to property. According tothe report,‘The bulk of racially motivated incidents areaccounted for by less serious types of crimes: 58%of incidents in our survey were either damage toproperty or verbal harassment. Officers must bemade aware that racially motivated incidents aremore likely to take the form of these less serioustypes of crime … and it is these types of incidentwhich they should be equipped to deal with.’Who commits racist offences?Most research suggests that the majority of perpetratorsare young. The PSI survey, for example, found that half49

Let’s get it rightwere between 20 and 29 and a quarter were teenagers; the1996 BCS showed 12% to be of school age and 42% aged16-24. The majority are males. However, the 1996 BCSshows that groups of perpetrators – sometimes mixed –are more likely to be involved in racially motivatedincidents than in other types of offence. According to thePSI survey, two-thirds of the perpetrators were unknownto the victim; the 1996 BCS found that 34% ofperpetrators were known casually to the victims,compared to 14% in non-racial cases.Some police forces, such as South Wales, find that asmany as 60% of perpetrators are of school age,reinforcing the need for education highlighted in theStephen Lawrence Inquiry Report , which states:‘If racism is to be eliminated from our societythere must be a co-ordinated effort to prevent itsgrowth … to address the well founded concerns ofminority communities simply by addressing theracism current and visible in the police serviceswithout addressing the educational system wouldbe futile. The evidence we heard and read forcesus to the conclusion that our education systemmust face up to the problems, real and potential,which exist.’ (46.34)There is a fundamental need for education – from primaryschools to higher and continuing educational institutions– about the harm of racism and discrimination. A highprofile public campaign – like that against drink driving –could help to educate the wider public. Criminal justiceagencies should work with local and educationalauthorities to promote the spirit of the Lawrencerecommendations.Local impactThe Metropolitan Police, the West Midlands, WestYorkshire, and Greater Manchester police force areashave the highest numbers of racial incidents recorded bythe police. But looking at the numbers of racist incidentsper 1,000 of minority ethnic population in each policearea gives a different perspective with interesting results.Northumbria, Cumbria, Cleveland and South Wales policeareas show the highest rates of incident by local minoritypopulation. This underlines the importance of an effectivecriminal justice response to these crimes in rural areaswith small minority populations as well as in cities.The criminal justice responseMinority victims of racist crime are less likely than whitevictims to report the incidents to the police. Many peopledo not report ‘low level’ harassment because they think itwon’t be taken seriously; and they are dissatisfied withthe police response because, according to the PSI report:‘… they thought the police had acted in a mannerwhich was unreasonable and which theyinterpreted as being racist, or, at best, in implicitsympathy with the actions of the perpetrators’.The fact that black people are four to five times morelikely than whites to be stopped and searched by thepolice and arrested may also mean they are less likely toreport racial harassment to the police, or to be confidentthat it will be dealt with effectively.In terms of recording offences, there is ‘a great deal ofvariation between forces in what is actually recorded andcounted’ (Maynard and Read 1998). The police did notalways accept the victim’s view that the incident wasracially motivated, or did not record it if it was part ofanother offence (for example racial verbal abuse duringan assault was not recorded). If those involved knew eachother, the police tended to disregard verbal abuse ashaving any racial implications.Another Home Office study, ‘The Perpetrators of RacialHarassment and Racial Violence’, found that officersregarded most incidents as neighbour disputes, or ‘notreally racial’:‘Police officers had little sense of the perpetratorsof recorded racial incidents as either being raciallymotivated or of being a worthy focus of policeattention.’Conflict between black and Asian communities wasperceived by officers as being the ‘real’ racial incidents.DefinitionAs a result of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report, anew definition has been accepted by both the Associationof Chief Police Officers and the Government, which is toensure it is used by all relevant agencies including localauthorities:‘A racist incident is any incident which isperceived to be racist by the victim or any otherperson.’50

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 8 VICTIMS OF CRIMEThe previous ACPO definition had been:‘Any incident in which it appears to the reportingofficer or investigating officer that the complaintinvolves an element of racial motivation or anyincident which includes an allegation of racialmotivation made by any person.’This was widely used by police forces but did not appearto be clearly understood by all police officers. Theperceived need to prove motivation may be one of thedifficulties that officers had with it, according to HomeOffice research; in addition it suggests that some officersfelt the ACPO definition limited their own discretion andmade them record a crime solely on the basis of thevictim’s statement.Officers on the street may dispute the new definition asthey did the earlier one. They may feel it challenges theirability to make judgements about the credibility ofwitnesses or reliability of evidence. But without the initialrecording of an incident as racist, the subsequentinvestigative and prosecuting processes cannot betriggered; the initial recording is vital.It is essential that the purpose of the definition isexplained and training given to officers so that they areprepared to put it into practice. ACPO will be issuing arevised good practice guide on dealing with racistincidents in 1999.Rate of attritionThere is a large gap between the estimated number ofracially motivated offences (both BCS and PSI figures),the numbers that are reported to the police, the numbersthat are then actually recorded by the police, and thenumber subsequently prosecuted. Racially-motivatedincidents are more likely to be cleared up than nonracially-motivatedincidents, but less likely to result in acharge or a caution; 39% of racist incidents in theMaynard and Read research resulted in a charge,compared to 58% for non-racially motivated offences.Some of this variation is due to the use of informal meansof disposal which are not included in the non-raciallymotivated offences figures. But, the authors note:‘Clearly there is a need to address the issue of thisrate of attrition.’CPS racial incident monitoringschemeThe CPS racial incident monitoring scheme, establishedin 1995, was an important development in the 1990s. Itsaim is:‘To produce accurate information on the numberof racial incident prosecutions and their outcomes.To evaluate the information and take allappropriate steps to ensure the effectiveprosecution of all racial incidents.’Two annual reports have been published on the findings.In 1997/98, 1,506 cases were monitored, an increase of161 over the previous year. As in 1996/97, the policeidentified only 37% of these cases as racially motivated,while the CPS identified the remaining 63%. Newadministrative procedures have now been agreed betweenpolice forces and the CPS to try to improve the rate ofpolice identification.Early indications from the 1998/99 monitoring are thatpolice performance in identifying racial incident cases hasimproved to the extent that they identified slightly overhalf of the cases submitted to the CPS for prosecution asracial incidents.Prosecutions were dropped in 12% of cases. 1,324 caseswere prosecuted, with a conviction rate of 83%. In 1,151cases there was admissible evidence of racial motivation,which was brought to the court’s attention in 85% of thecases. However courts indicated that they had increasedthe sentence because of racial motivation in only 22% ofthese cases.The CPS monitoring scheme is a very positive movetowards ensuring an effective criminal justice response toracially motivated offences. It has shed new light on whathappens towards the end of the process, to complementwhat is known about the beginning – the base of thetriangle of unreported and unrecorded crime. The schemewill be revised to take account of the changes introducedby the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, to ensure itcontinues to meet its objectives.Crime and Disorder Act 1998This important new legislation has the potential to dealwith a greater number of cases than before, including thetype of ‘low level’ harassment described earlier as well as51

Let’s get it rightSECTION 28 OF THE ACTMEANING OF RACIALLY AGGRAVATEDThe prosecution will be required toprove, beyond reasonable doubt:Eitherthe existence of racial hostility at thetime of committing the offence, orimmediately before or after doing so,orthat the offence was motivated partly orwholly by racial hostility.more serious cases. It has the advantage that if the racialelement is not proved, alternative verdicts of lesseroffences will be available – but only at Crown Court.Effective use of the new laws could help to reassureminority communities that racially motivated offenceswill not be tolerated.The new offences areeffect.The Stephen Lawrence InquiryThis inquiry, chaired by former High Court judge SirWilliam Macpherson of Cluny, was set up in 1997 byHome Secretary Jack Straw, four years after the 1993murder at an Eltham bus stop of teenager StephenLawrence. Stephen’s parents, Neville and DoreenLawrence, had a long and difficult struggle, includingbringing a rare private prosecution, to establish the factsabout the murder and the way in which it was dealt withby the criminal justice system.The inquiry began in June 1998. The first stage looked atthe direct circumstances of the murder, subsequent policeinquiries and CPS prosecutions. The Inquiry received 85written submissions for Part II, which looked more widelyat the lessons to be learned for the future investigationand prosecution of racially motivated crimes.The Report of the Inquiry makes 70 recommendations.Although many relate specifically to policing and totackling racist crime, they also have much widerimplications for the whole criminal justice system. This istaken up in the next chapter.s.29: racially aggravated assaultss.30: racially aggravated criminal damages.31: racially aggravated public order offencess.32: racially aggravated harassments.82: offences not covered by s.29-s.32 of the Act,where there is evidence of racial aggravation in thecommission of crime, the sentencer is to consider thisan aggravating factor meriting an increased sentence.The court has to be satisfied that the offence is raciallyaggravated in accordance with the s.28 definition,even though it cannot be charged as a specific raciallyaggravated offence.In the case of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, theInquiry Report concludes:‘There is no doubt but that there were fundamentalerrors. The investigation was marred by acombination of professional incompetence,institutional racism, and a failure of leadership bysenior officers.’A series of recommendations suggests ways in which thereporting, recording, investigation and prosecution ofracist incidents can be improved, all of which have beenaccepted by the Government.The Act provides for significantly higher penalties: forexample, in common assault, the maximum penalty isincreased from six months to two years, and in criminaldamage from 10 years to 14 years.If it is used effectively, the Act could prove to be a newmilestone for criminal justice. However, to make sure thishappens, training will be needed for the police, forprosecutors, lawyers, magistrates, justices’ clerks andjudges, to ensure that they use the legislation to fullMetropolitan Police Service: Racialand Violent Crime Task ForceIn advance of the Inquiry Report , the MetropolitanPolice Service (MPS) already established a Racial andViolent Crime Task Force headed by DAC John Grieve,who made forceful statements about his wish to catch andprosecute those carrying out hate crimes. ‘We madeLondon a hostile environment for the IRA. I’m sure wecan do the same for racists’, he said in February 1999.52

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 8 VICTIMS OF CRIMEA Lay Advisory Group of about 45 people, co-chaired byNACRO Director Beverley Thompson, is helping the taskforce to review particular cases, and to develop familyliaison, anti-racist policing and general strategy.In March, the Home Secretary asked Scotland Yard toreopen 25 unsolved cases of people believed to have beenmurdered by racists, starting from Rolan Adams,murdered in 1991, up to the 1997 death of Ricky Reel.This is being done by the task force. Other forces, such asMerseyside, are also examining unsolved cases.Association of Chief Police Officers(ACPO)In April 1998, ACPO published a good practice guide fordealing with racist incidents. It also convened a workingparty on racial incidents, which produced a report andrecommendations for a better system to record andinvestigate racist crime. Together with the MPS and otherpolice forces, it is helping to produce an Action Guide toRace and Hate Crime, which should be completed by theend of 1999 and will be provided to all police forces. It ishoped to promote a more co-ordinated and systematicapproach to hate crimes in all parts of the country.The work of Victim SupportVictim Support is the national charity for victims ofcrime. Victim Support groups locally provide support andinformation to victims of crime. Witness support servicesin the Crown Courts provide support for victims,witnesses and others affected by the court case. All VictimSupport services are governed by a national Code ofPractice which aims to ensure that services are accessibleto victims of crime from all communities.The Code of Practice also aims to ensure that nationallyand locally the organisation is representative of thecommunities it serves. The membership of volunteergroups, management committees and staff groups ismonitored and published in local annual reports.All volunteers receive training in dealing with raciallymotivated crime as part of their basic training, in additionto which groups are required to follow specific nationalguidelines covering this area.TACKLING RACIALLY MOTIVATEDCRIME:AN EXAMPLE FROMDYFED POWYS POLICEAfter attending a Holly Royde policeseminar on race and community relations in1995, two officers established acomprehensive training package to raiseawareness of police officers to racial incidentsand their effect on the victims, and to ensurepolice procedures on dealing with them arefollowed. Community affairs officers take aone week course, and senior managers take atwo day course. A three day course isprovided for detective inspectors on theinvestigation and monitoring of offences. Allsergeants and inspectors have received aday’s training to help them give directionsand guidance on dealing with and recordingracial incidents. A course for constables iscurrently under way.Its success can be judged by the figures.In 1995 there had been no recorded raceincidents. Then training was introduced.In 1996 there were 26 recorded incidentsand up to July 1997 there were 19incidents. All incidents and investigationsare monitored by the HQ communityaffairs department.In January 1988 a detailed policy on racialand homophobic incidents was published.It sets out the responsibilities of differentranks of officer regarding investigation,recording and monitoring, and liaisonwith victims. The force has its own racialincident form which includes a logsection to record time and date ofinvestigation and other actions taken. Thepolicy includes an explanation of section4, 4a and 5 of the Public Order Act 1986to help officers to use this legislation tobest effect.In the Crown Courts, witness services see all service usersface-to-face and, therefore, are able to carry out53

Let’s get it rightmonitoring.In 1997/98 the Witness Service helped 111,209 courtusers: 91% were white, 2% were black, 5% were Asianand 2% were from other ethnic groups.Victim Support groups do not see all those who receiveinformation face-to-face and, therefore, monitoring ismore difficult. As most referrals come from the police,it would be helpful for Victim Support if the policeextended ethnic monitoring to include all victims ofcrime.Victim Support also has a consumer satisfaction surveyfor local services, which includes a question on theethnic origin of the respondent so that any differencescan be easily identified.In February 1998, Victim Support opened the VictimSupportline. For the first time this provided onenumber,national access to Victim Support services. AllVictim Support services are confidential. An additionalpurpose of the Supportline was to encourage those whomay not have reported a crime to the police to seekhelp. Some callers only want to receive immediate helpand advice. Others want access to local help and,through Victim Supportline, referrals can be made tolocal groups, the witness service or to other agencies.Some callers may want to use the line as a means ofdiscussing their feelings about reporting a crime.In all aspects of its services, Victim Support iscontinuing to develop and monitor its response to racistincidents and crimes. A service review is a major partof its strategic plan for 1999-2002. In February 1999the Home Secretary announced that Victim Support hasbeen asked to extend its services into magistrates’courts. As in Crown Courts, the service will beavailable to prosecution and defence witnesses as wellas to victims and others affected by the case.In response to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report,the Government announced an increase in funding toVictim Support, so that its current £12.7m grant willrise by 2001 to £19m. It is also to review the Victim’sCharter, which includes 27 standards of service forcriminal justice agencies, to take account of newlegislation and decisions taken as a result of theInquiry.ACTION POINTS Implementing the recommendations of theStephen Lawrence Inquiry Report must be apriority for all agencies. Crime and Disorder Act: local crime auditsand police and local authority crimeprevention partnerships must tackle allcrimes against minority communities,developing action plans to tackle them inclose consultation with local people. The MPS model of lay involvement viaadvisory panels should be adopted by allpolice forces. The ACOP/MPS action guide to race and hatecrime should be supported by training anddisseminated to all police forces. Priority must be given to work with localcommunities to encourage more reporting ofracially motivated crimes. This might bedone through local authorities, communitypolice consultative groups, race equalitycouncils and other community-basedorganisations. Victim Support groups shouldassist the police with this work. The policeshould hold special open consultationmeetings to hear at first hand communityperceptions of the problem and ideas forsolutions. Probation services should ensure theyprovide programmes for work with raciallymotivated offenders, drawing on ‘FromMurmur to Murder’ (see chapter 7). Victim Support should ensure thatcommittees, staff and volunteers arerepresentative of the communities theyserve. Victim Support should monitor its responsesto racially motivated crime.54

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER9After thewatershed:2000 andbeyond‘I want this report to serve as awatershed in our attitudes to racism.I want it to act as a catalyst topermanent and irrevocable change,not just across our public services,but across the whole of our society.This report does not place aresponsibility on someone else. Itplaces a responsibility on each one ofus.’Home Secretary, 24 February 1999What are the key issues to take criminal justice into thenew millennium? This chapter looks at the most importantthemes for the coming years, while chapter 10summarises the key action points from earlier chapters.The Stephen Lawrence InquiryReportAs the media spotlight moves away from the StephenLawrence Inquiry Report, what is its long-term relevancefor race and criminal justice? Will it really be ‘awatershed’ as the Home Secretary claimed whenpresenting the report to Parliament on 24 February? Orwill it suffer a similar fate to the Scarman Report, thewatershed of its own time? Scarman was expected tosolve problems of police and community relations whichwere – sadly – all too apparent to the Lawrence Inquiryteam 18 years later.Within a month of the Inquiry Report, on 23 March theHome Secretary published the Government’s Action Plan,with detailed proposals on each of the 70recommendations in the Inquiry Report – most of whichwere accepted by the Government. A steering group witha wide membership has been set up to help enact it, andon which NACRO is represented.There has been a rapid and promising start to the processof change. Can it be sustained? Can it be sustained as abacklash develops in the media and more widely; or in theface of diminishing public interest, institutional inertiaand the traditional working practices of criminal justiceorganisations? ‘This is how we always do it’ is a powerfulobstacle to the type of change that is now required,particularly in conservative organisations deeply rooted intradition and precedent.‘… we would all be deluding ourselves if we believethat the issues thrown up by this inquiry reflect onlyon the police. Indeed the implications of this reportgo much, much wider and the very process of theinquiry has opened all our eyes to what it is like tobe black or Asian in Britain today.’Home Secretary, 24 February 1999ResponsibilityAlthough many recommendations in the Inquiry Reportare aimed primarily at police services, there is a collective55

Let’s get it rightresponsibility on the CPS, the courts, the legal professionsand the prison and probation services to work with localauthorities and community organisations to ensure justiceand fairness for all.The new Ministerial Priority that has been agreed for thepolice should be applied to the entire criminal justicesystem and its services to people from minoritycommunities as victims and witnesses, suspects andoffenders, professional staff, and partnerships. It could besubject to a ‘friendly’ amendment (the underlined words):‘To increase trust and confidence in criminaljustice amongst minority ethnic communities.’Institutional racismAccording to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report :‘Institutional racism consists of the collectivefailure of an organisation to provide an appropriateand professional service to people because of theircolour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen ordetected in processes, attitudes and behaviourwhich amount to discrimination through unwittingprejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and raciststereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnicpeople.’ ( 6.34)Institutional racism – which does not mean that allindividuals in an organisation are racist – is not limited topolice services, but applies in many organisationsincluding the other criminal justice agencies.The Inquiry Report continues:‘It is incumbent upon every institution to examinetheir policies and the outcome of their policies andpractices to guard against disadvantaging anysection of our communities.’As a first step, to implement the spirit of the InquiryReport, all criminal justice agencies shouldConduct an audit of current policies, and the impact ofpractices and procedures, on local communities(particularly at key decision-making points).Conduct routine ethnic monitoring of all aspects oftheir work – and make local use of the results.Involve local communities in discussing the results ofmonitoring and devising plans to tackle any problemsidentified.Openness and accountabilityRecommendations 3-11 cover ways to promote ‘avigorous pursuit of openness and accountability’ ( 46.32).The report says that:‘… the principle which should govern the policeservices, and indeed the criminal justice system, isthat they should be accountable under all relevantlegislative provisions …’ (46.32)The Government has accepted most of theserecommendations. It will expand the Race Relations Act1976 to cover all public services. From October 2000onwards, when the Human Rights Act 1998 comes intoeffect, Article 14 of the European Convention on HumanRights – the prohibition of discrimination - will apply toall public authorities, including criminal justice agencies.These changes are to come. Meanwhile, there are stepsthat can be taken now by all criminal justice agencies:Extend lay involvementThe MPS has established a Lay Advisory Group toadvise its Racial and Violent Crime Force, a modelthat could be adapted by other agencies. Local raceequality councils and other community groups can beasked to help to establish lay panels drawn as widelyas possible from different communities and differentage groups. Lay panels can act as sounding boards inlocal areas and can be a rich source of advice whendeveloping, say, a training strategy, a crimeprevention plan or a customer survey. A court couldinvolve a lay panel in user group meetings; a prisoncould use a lay advisory group in devising stafftraining programmes; the police could apply the laymodel to other aspects of their work such as theimpact of stop and search.Develop organisational accountabilityThis can be promoted by working in partnership witha range of statutory and non-statutory organisations.Existing mechanisms can be strengthened and usedmore effectively. For example, Community PoliceConsultative Groups, must become more dynamic,effective and widely representative in a way they havenot been so far. A two-way dialogue between criminaljustice practitioners and young people is crucial.Imaginative and flexible ways to make contact with allages and community groups must be found.56

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 9 AFTER THE WATERSHEDnEmphasise individual accountabilityA sense of personal accountability can be promoted byeffective, work-based training; proper managementand supervision of the impact of individual or teamwork on local communities; and by using promotionand appraisal systems to encourage work oncommunity relations.– about the harm of racism and discrimination. A highprofile public campaign – like that against drink driving –could help to educate the wider public. Criminal justiceagencies should work with local and educationalauthorities to promote the spirit of the Lawrencerecommendations.PartnershipThe report says that:‘… there must be a change so that there is genuinepartnership between the police and all sections ofthe community. This cannot be achieved by thepolice alone. The onus is on them to start theprocess. All other agencies, particularly those inthe field of education and housing must beinvolved. Co-operation must be genuine andvigorous.’ (46.40)Crime and Disorder Act 1998This legislation has important implications for fairnessand equality which have been mentioned at several pointsin this report.Local strategies for reducing crime and disorderThe new partnerships and local crime and disorderaudits are an excellent opportunity to restore localcommunity confidence in criminal justice byidentifying and delivering policing and local authorityservices which meet local needs. This fits with theapproach in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report.A realistic debate is needed on problems of local crimeand the criminal justice response to it, which involveslocal communities in devising the strategies needed totackle them. Recommendation 70 says that local authorityand police crime prevention forums (established by theCrime and Disorder Act 1998 – see below) should adoptplans to promote cultural diversity and tackle racism.‘Only by full co-operation will the problems ofracism and racist crime be combated. There mustbe a ‘multi-stakeholder’ approach involving allparts of the community.’ (45.20)EducationAccording to the report:‘If racism is to be eliminated from our societythere must be a co-ordinated effort to prevent itsgrowth … to address the well founded concerns ofminority communities simply by addressing theracism current and visible in the police serviceswithout addressing the educational system wouldbe futile. The evidence we heard and read forcesus to the conclusion that our education systemmust face up to the problems, real and potential,which exist.’ (46.34)There is a fundamental need for education – from primaryschools to higher and continuing educational institutionsIt is essential that an imaginative and flexibleapproach is taken to involve and consult local peoplefrom all communities and of all ages, including youngpeople who do not usually participate in more formalstructures such as Police Community ConsultativeGroups. In some areas, special youth or black issuesforums have been set up to encourage widerparticipation and promote local accountability.Local crime audits must include an assessment of thescale of racist crime as well as the overall crime risksfor minority communities. Community groups must beinvolved in setting crime reduction strategies.Implementing the new provisions on raciallymotivated offencesThe Act provides new offences that will help tosupport the new initiatives being taken as a result ofthe Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report. It is importantthat they are used, and that their impact is monitored.Youth justice systemThe new youth justice provisions must be subject toethnic monitoring to ensure that:— Diversion schemes are available to young peoplefrom all communities.— Black and Asian young offenders benefit from57

eparation and community orders which will helpthem to avoid reoffending.— Any inequality in the use of custody (remand orsentenced) for young people is promptly detectedand investigated.Anti-social behaviour orders, parenting orders,local child curfewsThere is a risk that indirect discrimination could affectthe fairness of the decision-making process relating tothese new powers. Decision making on whatconstitutes anti-social behaviour, or who is a goodparent, can be a highly subjective area. Everyone hasdifferent views about these subjects. Use of the neworders must be subject to monitoring and review toensure they do not have a disproportionate or unfairimpact on any section of the community.Just as importantly, at local level agencies must look intodifferences shown by monitoring results to find out whatlies behind them, and develop strategies to correct anyproblems uncovered in the process.Ethnic monitoring systems are more widely in place.Ethnic monitoring in principle is widely accepted. What isneeded now is an understanding of how to identify whatlies behind the figures, and how to act on the results.ConclusionThis report has tried to chart some of the milestones sincethe Scarman report. There is no doubt that much has beenachieved and many changes have been made. It is clearthat it has not been enough. Each chapter of this reporthas a set of practical action points to take these changesfurther.Human Rights Act 1998This Act is likely to have far-reaching implications as arights-based approach to race and criminal justice isdeveloped. It may take some time for case law to bedeveloped. In the meantime, adopting an underlyingapproach that is based on rights can be used, together withthe audit of practice and procedures above, to bring abouta very fundamental shift. Instead of crisis-ridden, stickingplaster problem solving, criminal justice agencies canreview their services to make sure they meet the rights ofall members of society to fair and non-discriminatoryjustice. Instead of locating the problem ‘out there’, arights-based approach will by its very nature tacklestructural and institutional inequality.The watershed will pass. The need for continuous changeand action will remain. It is essential that the momentumis kept up. This report ends with the final words of theStephen Lawrence Inquiry Report – which say it all:‘This may then be the start of the beginning ofchange.’Ethnic monitoring: review andactionThe monitoring that was given such a boost by Section 95of the 1991 Criminal Justice Act, and related researchreports, have been invaluable in helping to identify moreexactly the crunch points in the system. Ethnic monitoringneeds to be expanded to cover all agencies in the system,and in particular those key decision-making points wherediscretion is involved. One crucial area – currently a largehidden area – is sentencing decisions.As new legislation is introduced and new policyformulated, it should become automatic that provisionsfor ethnic monitoring, review and action are included.58

CHAPTER10Summary ofaction pointsCRIMINAL JUSTICE CONSULTATIVECOUNCIL AND AREA CRIMINALJUSTICE LIAISON COMMITTEESCHAPTER 3Criminal Justice Consultative Council must give anew lead to Area Criminal Justice Liaison Committees(ACJLCS) on work on race.Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Stephen LawrenceInquiry Report and Human Rights Act 1998 must setagenda for Area Criminal Justice Liaison Committees.Area Committees must raise their profiles in localcommunities and open channels of communication.Home Office and Lord Chancellor’s Department mustprovide more resources to enable ACJLCS to be moreproactive at local level.RESEARCH AND MONITORINGCHAPTER 4Police monitoring should extend to victims of crimeand clear up rates for different communities.The CPS monitoring of casework decisions should beimplemented as speedily as possible.Monitoring of sentencing decisions at bothmagistrates’ courts and Crown Courts should beintroduced urgently.Self-classification systems should be used by allagencies (once paperwork starts, whether for someonereporting a crime or for a suspect, the person shouldbe asked to classify their own ethnic origin).A standardised and flexible computer system for thewhole criminal justice system should be providedwhich is capable of reacting to changes such as the2001 Census.Guidance is needed for local managers as to how tointerpret and make best use of monitoring to improveservices.59

Let’s get it rightMonitoring results should be used as a basis for honestAll agencies should support minority group staffdiscussion with local communities, perhaps throughassociations.the new local crime prevention partnerships.All agencies must give priority and resources toArea Criminal Justice Liaison Committees shouldtraining for all staff, which is directly related topromote co-ordinated local systems and considerworking practices and which is monitored, evaluatedpolicy and practice implications of the results.and supported in the working situation.The new youth justice provisions (Crime and DisorderAct 1998) must be subject to monitoring from theoutset.EMPLOYMENT AND TRAININGCHAPTER 5At local level, agencies should consider holding interagencytraining.Local community groups must be involved in theplanning and delivery of training.Private companies holding contracts for court escortsand security and for management of prisons should beheld to the same standards in terms of employment,promotion and training practices as state agencies.A Judicial Appointments Commission should beestablished to examine ways to produce more speedilya diverse judiciary and to play a part in theappointment procedure itself.SUSPECTS AND DEFENDANTSCHAPTER 6Continuing efforts should be made to encourage moreapplicants for the magistracy from minoritycommunities.The Bar Council and Law Society should activelypromote and enforce their equal opportunity policies.Police services must implement the Government’sAction Plan in response to the Stephen LawrenceInquiry Report recommendations.The Bar Council should ensure barristers co-operatewith the CPS monitoring of its work.Police services must take action on ‘Winning theRace’ and ‘Winning the Race Revisited’.The Prison Service should develop a nationalrecruitment programme to supplement localrecruitment and ensure a more diverse workforce in allestablishments, including at senior levels.The CPS and probation services should examinepromotion systems to ensure they are accessible to alland consider positive action where necessary.Police forces should give new priority to meeting thenew government recruitment and retention targets, andexamine promotion procedures to ensure they areaccessible to all.All agencies should consider adopting targets forrecruitment, retention and promotion of staff fromracial minorities, on similar lines to those set by theHome Secretary for the police.Police services must work with Crime and DisorderAct partnerships to involve local minoritycommunities in developing crime reduction strategies.Police services must use s95 informationconstructively to measure and improve local services.The legal professions must promote their race equalitypolicies and practices more forcefully and play agreater role in the work of Area Criminal JusticeLiaison Committees.Civil courts must be alert to potential discriminatoryimpact of parenting or anti-social behaviour orders.Training and ethnic monitoring must be introduced toensure the new immigration and asylum procedures donot have a discriminatory impact on black and Asianasylum seekers.60

RACE AND JUSTICE 2000CHAPTER 10 SUMMARY OF ACTION POINTSAFTER SENTENCE: PRISON ANDPROBATION SERVICESCHAPTER 7Probation services must ensure community penaltiessuitable for minority defendants are provided andrecommended to courts, and that their programmesmeet the needs of a diverse population.Ethnic monitoring of the new Crime and Disorder Actyouth justice provisions must be used locally to ensurefairness of application to all young people.Probation services must support community-basedgroups which work with offenders.Fairness, justice and safety in prisons must be givenurgent priority, with more time and resources allocatedfor the work at local level.Conditions for immigration detainees should reflecttheir unconvicted status and cater for the diverse rangeof people held in detention centres and prisons.Race relations in private prisons must be subject tosame quality control as in the state system.The MPS model of lay involvement via advisorypanels should be adopted by all police forces.The ACOP/MPS action guide to race and hate crimeshould be supported by training and disseminated toall police forces.Priority must be given to work with local communitiesto encourage more reporting of racially motivatedcrimes. This might be done through local authorities,community police consultative groups, race equalitycouncils and other community-based organisations.Victim Support groups should assist the police withthis work. The police should hold special openconsultation meetings to hear at first hand communityperceptions of the problem and ideas for solutions.Probation services should ensure they provideprogrammes for work with racially motivatedoffenders, drawing on ‘From Murmur to Murder’.Victim Support should ensure that committees, staffand volunteers are representative of the communitiesthey serve.Victim Support should monitor responses to raciallymotivated crime.The Chief Inspector of Prisons should conduct athematic review of race relations in prisons.The Government must review the provisions andapplication of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act1974 to ensure it is not discriminatory in its impact.VICTIMS OF CRIMECHAPTER 8Implementing the recommendations of the StephenLawrence Inquiry Report must be a priority for allagencies.Crime and Disorder Act: local crime audits and policeand local authority crime prevention partnerships musttackle all crimes against minority communities,developing action plans to tackle them in closeconsultation with local people.61

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POLICE AND PEOPLEIN LONDONII A group of youngblack peoplePrison DisturbancesApril 1990Report of an InquirybyStephen SmallTHE RT HON LORDJUSTICE WOOLFPARTS I and IIandHIS HON JUDGESTEPHEN TUMINPARTS IIPSI Policy Studies Institute£10November 1983