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

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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
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