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

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