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

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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
Page 1 and 2: Let’sget itrightRace and Justice
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Page 65 and 66: BIBLIOGRAPHYBland et al (1999), ‘
Page 67 and 68: NACRO Race Issues Advisory Committe

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