Are Greater Manchester Police institutionally racist?
Article published: Wednesday, May 13th 2009
Ten years after the watershed Macpherson Report, Patrick Smith finds Manchester Police have not done enough to challenge racism in their ranks.
In the wake of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, the Macpherson Report confirmed what some people had known for a long time: the British police force was institutionally racist. When controversy spread to Manchester, the Chief Constable at the time, David Wilmot, and council leader Richard Leese fell over themselves to acknowledge the claims levelled against the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and vowed to root racism out.
Ten years down the line, top brass like Stephen Otter of the Association of Chief Police Officers, claim a lot has changed. So much so, that it’s no longer fitting to call the police institutionally racist. But MULE has found that the GMP are a long way off meeting the recommendations made in the report.
On the GMP recruitment page, images of black and Asian officers outnumber white officers two to one. The establishment obviously realises that the image of a white, male police department is no longer acceptable, but sadly the site isn’t a true picture of the force today. While the Macpherson Report recommended that all forces become reflective of the communities they represent, in Manchester 96 per cent of police officers are white in a region where 14 per cent of the population are from a minority background.
It has also proved harder for black and Asian officers to progress through the ranks, with ethnic minority police holding only 2.5 per cent of positions above constable and all top positions apparently out of reach for minorities. While there has been an increase in the number of ethnic minority recruits it’s going to take more than black faces on the website to convince people of real change.
The GMP has had more than its fair share of controversy over racism. In 2003 they received the kind of headlines they must have hoped were behind them when the BBC’s Secret Policeman documentary revealed extreme racism among its recruits. Prospective officers were captured donning KKK style hoods and using racial epithets. One openly declared that Steven Lawrence deserved to die. Despite the Macpherson Report recommending that any officer using recognised racist terms should be dismissed, the GMP disciplined the recruits involved – but sacked none of them.
Charles Critchnall, Chair of the Manchester Black and Asian Officers Association (MBAOA) believes this case belied a wider malaise.
“There is no reason why this couldn’t happen again,” he commented to MULE. “Little has really changed that would put effective stoppers in place.”
The reputation of the force was dealt another blow in 2007 when several frontline officers were spotted attending an event organised by the British National Party (BNP), despite the fact that membership of the party is banned for police officers. In a separate incident another constable had to resign after he was spotted wearing a BNP badge.
Critchnall’s suggestion that GMP are not doing enough to fight racism is strengthened by revelations that the force accept recruits who fail the ‘respect for diversity’ test. Applicants scoring under 60 per cent are supposed to be rejected but the GMP openly admitted to the Guardian that it bends the rules and will consider people who score lower.
A recent recruit, who asked not to be named, told MULE: “I was rejected by the police because I only got 56 per cent in the test, but was surprised when I got a call later asking me to come in for further interviewing. After that I was accepted.”
Meanwhile, new police powers designed to “track down terrorist threats” have left relations with the Asian community at an all time low, according to Catherine Hestletine of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee.
Hestletine claims that police are targeting Asians. In 2008 in Greater Manchester figures show that 43 per cent of all stop-and-searches under anti-terror legislation were of people from an Asian background. She believes these laws have undone any good work since the report.
“There is much more Islamophobia among the police now. Young Asians in particular feel they are constantly under suspicion,” she said.
But Erinma Bell of Carisma, an Afro-Caribbean community group based in Hulme and Moss Side, thinks some places in Manchester have seen positive change.
“In our area we have a better partnership with the police,” she said, “with representation on the independent advisory group and improved witness protection procedures.”
However, she says other areas have been ignored and fears progress is often superficial.
“While they’re improving outwardly they still haven’t done enough to clean up their own house – too many frontline officers are racist,” she concluded.
Comments
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This isn’t a racist issue but I can’t find another outlet for it. my son at manchester Uni several years ago was brutally attacked by a gang of skinheads and tried to wave down a passing police car for help. They drew up at traffic lights but ignored his pleas and evetually told him “to get his fucking face out of their window”. I reported it to Wilmot who did nothing to identify and deal with the police in question – giving pathetic excuses as to how difficult it would be if we didn’t get their number! Difficult to overlook such reprehensible, obscene, dishonest,self serving behaviour. I tell this story to everyone I meet so that his reputation as a useless leader of men is revealed for what it is.
Comment by P.Mcgrane on February 8, 2010 at 7:55 pm
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