suspects would be equally balanced with the need to tackle crime (Young, 1994).
Since the inception of PACE, legislative changes have introduced more powers to stop and search, and today, police officers have at their disposal a variety of powers which are drawn from a range of statutory instruments such as the Terrorism Act (2000) and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994), Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act (1985) and the Drugs Act (1971) in addition to those provided under PACE (Bland et al 2000)
While the earlier Scarman Inquiry had rejected claims of institutional racism and instead attributed the racist behaviour of the police to the actions of only a few “bad apples”
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within the service, the Macpherson Report went much further in condemning the
practices of the police, and indeed other public institutions in the United Kingdom, as
being institutionally racist. The report by Sir William Macpherson followed an inquiry into the Metropolitan police's investigation of the murder of a black teenager, Stephen Lawrence (www.bbc.co.uk). The use of the term institutional racism, which, according to Macpherson refers to an organisation's collective failure to provide an appropriate service to people on the basis of their ethnicity and includes unintentional or thoughtless racism, was contested by many police officers and sections of the media who saw the term as little more than a sweeping accusation that all officers are racist (McGhee, 2007).
Recommendations of the Macpherson Report, endorsed by senior police officials and the British government, triggered a wide-ranging program of reform designed to tackle problems of racism in British society.
Although considerable progress has been made in the years following the publication of the Macpherson Report in 1999, a number of significant challenges have emerged within the context of race relations in the United Kingdom, most notably with regard to the position of British Muslims and the renewed popularity of the Far Right (Macpherson, 2008). Outbreaks of disorder between White communities and predominantly Muslim communities in northern England during the summer of 2001 sparked intense debate over the integration of Muslims and other minority ethnic groups within mainstream British society. This debate has intensified following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in the United States, and, more recently, the bombings in the London Underground, on July 7, 2005, in the United Kingdom (Bowling, 2006). It could be argued that Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 was introduced to specifiaclly target Muslims. In 2009 the minister of state Vernon Coaker admitted that ‘Counter-terrorism powers should only be used for counter-terrorism
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purposes’. The use of Section 44 can be problematic and is therefore subject to
annual review by the Independent Reviewer of Legislation on Terrorism. Webster
(2003) as cited in Phillips and Bowling (2007) argue that not all ethnic minority groups are terroists and that in the past police have under protected them.
“Young black and British Asian kids...are being stabbed and shot and the rules are getting in the way of protecting them” (Cameron , 2007)
The British government's response to the 2001 disturbances in northern England called for a renewed emphasis to be placed upon the concept of community cohesion as a way of establishing a common sense of national identity, irrespective of ethnicity, to resolve escalating tensions between different cultural, religious, and ethnic groups, but fears over the threat of Islamic extremism, expressed through alarmist media narratives have raised levels of public anxiety over the compatibility of Islamic values with conventional Western ideology (Macpherson, 2008).
DISCUSSION
Despite the positive steps taken following the murder of Stephen Lawrence to tackle problems of racism in the United Kingdom, there remain a number of formidable and ongoing challenges to the maintenance of race relations in the United Kingdom. (McGhee, 2007)
Polls and surveys reveal discordant public views on zero tolerance policies. An August 2000 public opinion survey found that over 61 percent of respondents believed the London Police Department was doing a good or excellent job. Yet, 42 percent of blacks and 36 percent of Hispanics said they would be fearful or somewhat concerned if they were approached by a police officer. By comparison, 19 percent of white respondents expressed similar concerns. (Rowe, 2004)
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Carrying offensive weapons such as guns and knives is still very much apparent within out society although gun and knife amnesties have been to success to a certain extent. Stop-and-search gun searches fuel much of the public discomfort with the London Police Department, the Street Crime Unit's assertive operations accounted for more than 40 percent of the guns police removed from the streets in 1999. This is despite the fact that this unit represented less than 2 percent of the force. However, critics warn that such success comes with a price tag. For example, in 1998, the unit frisked 27,061 people and arrested 4,647. In essence, more than 22,000 people were searched by mistake. (McGhee, 2007)
Various knife crime programmes have been introduced such as The Tackling Knives Programme (TKAP). The aim is to reduce incidents of death and serious violence among teenagers. Launched in June 2008, 2 million pounds was spent initally. The Home Office announced a further 5 million of spending on the project in March 2009 which has brought the total number of police forces involved in the project up to sixteen (15 areas plus British Transport Police).
“What I want to see is anybody who is using a knife goes to prison; anybody who is carrying a knife is subject to either prison or a strong community payback that forces them to give service to the community” (Brown G, 2008)
The Stephen Lawrance and Macpharsons’ report determined that one out of every seven stop-and-search forms—more than 15 percent—did not state facts sufficient to the meet the legal definition of “reasonable suspicion.” (Rowe, 2004) Further, 24 percent of the forms did not provide the attorney general's office with enough information to determine if a stop was legally supportable. The report's most alarming and controversial finding was that “The perception that minority residents have been disproportionately stopped and frisked by the police is based on reality” (Bowling, 2006).
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A long-term study of stops and searches in North London demonstrated an “extraordinary rise” in stops since 1986. “This has been accompanied by a steady decline in those arrested, so that at present 90 percent of those searched are innocent—and, of course, these are only those whose stop has been recorded” (Mooney and Young 2000: 84). The criticism extends far beyond the number of stops and searches. It also pertains to the seriousness of the offense for which the search was conducted. One London community, for example, found that the vast majority of the stops and searches (83 percent) yielded the less offensive cannabis as opposed to the more dangerous drugs of cocaine (5 percent) and heroin (4 percent) (Rowe, 2004).
CONCLUSION
Following the murder of the black London teenager, Stephen Lawrence, in 1993, and the subsequent MacPherson Inquiry in 1999, the police accepted the label that they were “institutionally racist.” This did not mean that the problem was one of overtly racist behaviour being displayed by a minority of rogue officers, but rather that the problem was one of unwitting racism because of policies, procedures, and practices that served to inadvertently discriminate against blacks and other minority groups.
Since 1999, the police have been encouraged to undertake reforms to consult hard-to-reach groups within the community and to recruit, retain, and progress black and minority officers within the forces throughout the UK (Bowling, 2006).
As well as the issue of diversity, since the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998, the police have been made to work in partnership with other criminal justice and social agencies so the recipients of welfare services are treated more like paying customers. This is a challenge because it requires police leaders who work as generalists to cooperate with other professional groups who may not share their view of the world (McGhee, 2007). Crime is now being seen as a social problem and not just a policing problem.
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Stop and search is an infridgement of the liberty of the individual concerned and police action must be based exclusively on, and does not exceed, powers granted by statute.
Police leaders of the future in the UK have to be able to meet this challenge for genuine improvements in social outcomes to be made to try and minimize tradegies such as Stephen Lawerence.
“Stephen is always, always, in my heart, and today 15 years on, I am just thinking about the waste of his life”
(Lawrence, D 2008)
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