Following the publication of the Macpherson Report, the police service has been accused of being 'institutionally racist'. Has this accusation been a help or a hindrance to police relations with minority ethnic communities?

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Following the publication of the Macpherson Report, the police service has been accused of being ‘institutionally racist’. Has this accusation been a help or a hindrance to police relations with minority ethnic communities?

        The Macpherson report was published in 1999 amidst problems of racial inequality and a lack of faith in the police amongst minority ethnic communities. There is an ongoing debate on whether Macpherson’s report was a help or a hindrance with regards to minority ethnic relations and the police; it is this dispute that the essay shall examine. To begin with the paper will look at the problems, which existed prior to Sir William Macpherson’s publication and which led to the publication of his report. It will then proceed to examine the failures of the Scarman report, in order to look at both the prior problems and failures regarding the 1981 Scarman publication and see how these two sets of factors affected the way in, which minority ethnic communities responded to Macpherson’s report. The essay will then continue on to highlight two main areas of recommendation made by Sir William Macpherson and judge whether or not these were successfully carried out and what effect, if any they had on the minority ethnic community relations. Finishing with the introduction of the acts, which were inspired by and followed the Macpherson report, and discuss the results, which they had on police, minority ethnic relations.

The problems in Britain regarding racism prior to the Macpherson report and the failure of the Scarman report to remedy these, could have been said to have meant that police and minority ethnic communities were instantly bettered just by the mere publication of Macpherson’s article. Racism was not actually registered in the eyes of the government and police as a crime until the early 1980’s. But as a result of the rising public outcries and the increasing statistical and research evidence suggesting unfair racist practices occurring within the police, the government and policing bodies had to at least acknowledge the existence of racism as a problem in society. The Bradford riots in 1995, and other public outcries showed the growing animosity that was being felt toward the police by minority ethnic communities. Another factor, which led the opinions of minority ethnic citizens of the police to become additionally hostile, is the ever advancing statistical and research evidence of racism within the police force. In 1978 Stuart Hall et al showed most clearly how, largely on the basis of pre-existing stereotypes minority ethnic people (in particular black people) were being criminalized and subjected to extraordinary policing and punishment. Both these factors increased the feelings of hatred for the police amongst minority ethnic communities. This was then furthered by the subsequent failings of the Scarman report. These included his failure to explain properly in his report the main reason why black people were so angry with the police this was to do with the oppressive policing that they were being subjected to. He was unsuccessful in looking at police powers (particularly stop and search) (Bridges 1982, Howe 1988 cited in Bowling et al 2002) and most importantly he failed to take a proper account of ‘institutional racism’. Consequently because of the growing animosity toward the police as a result of growing intolerance (shown in public outcries), statistical and research evidence and the failures of the Scarman report to help in improving relations with minority communities, Sir William Macpherson’s report in 1999, which covered all of these key areas within his 70 recommendations, was widely welcomed by minority ethnic communities. So purely due to the issues prior to its publication and the thorough nature of the document itself, there was an instant, be it slight improvement in minority ethnic and police relations.

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However Macpherson’s report didn’t just evoke positive responses when first introduced, despite the problems it aimed to rectify. His introduction of a new definition of ‘institutional racism’, which he stated as being,

‘The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin…. can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice….’

(Macpherson 1999, Para. 6.34),

Caused mixed reactions from both minority communities and police themselves, which proved to be a hindrance with regards to relations between the police ...

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