Macpherson Report And Report Into The Murder Of Stephen Lawrence

With the increase of diversity in the country, comes a wide variety of issues facing all sectors. In the criminal justice sector we see issues such as racial profiling, discrimination amongst others.

This essay will introduce two competing perspectives of policing, they are the orthodox and revisionist perspectives. This essay will then relate the orthodox and revisionist perspectives to the themes of lack of structure, industrialisation and finally hostility. It will then discuss whether the creation of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 was an effective solution to the changes within society as well as the challenges brought about through crime and disorder. The orthodox view is that the Metropolitan Police were, in fact, a rational decision made to adapt to the needs of the society. They argue that the establishment of the ‘new’ police was inevitable. The revisionist view would state that the ‘new’ police were not a rational decision. They believed that crime and disorder were not increasing, it was just that the ways of counting crime were largely different to previously. The revisionists also believe that the new system was in part beneficial for which to tackle issues that may have occasioned due to the new ‘dangerous class’ (Monkkonen, 1981, p147). In this essay, there will be reference made to the Brixton Riots in 1981 with a clear explanation as to how the orthodox and revisionist perspectives relate to modern policing activities.

On April the 22nd 1993, Stephen Lawrence was murdered in an unprovoked racially motivated attack in South London. During inquiries, the police were criticized for how they handled the case, and in 1999 The Macpherson Report was published (HOC-HAC, 2009). This found that the police showed a lack of professionalism through incompetence in properly investigating the case, fuelled by institutional racism (HOC-HAC, 2009). The report concludes by stating that institutional racism is present in all police forces and should be eradicated to achieve fairness in policing, and thus, justice for all. With the hope of achieving this vision, 70 recommendations were made. In 2009, ten years after the emergence of the Macpherson Report, another report was published with the intention of reviewing the progress made in achieving the recommendations previously outlined. Although the report acknowledges progress has been made within the police force in combatting racial prejudices and institutional racism there are still major areas of concern, with targets set out in the Macpherson Report not being achieved. In 2007/08 its reported that 28% of people from BAME communities felt they would be treated unfairly by the police and the CJS, due to their race (HOC-HAC, 2009). Furthermore, 20 out of the 43 police forces in England and Wales have failed to reach their target of

William H. Davies was appointed as the sole commissioner. The initial interim report, released in 2009, called for substantial policy changes to alleviate the chronic levels of substance abuse and alcoholism present amongst the Aboriginal population of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Davies, 2009). The final report, released in 2011, called for sweeping changes to British Columbia’s Criminal Justice Branch and the manner in which law enforcement officials are charged and prosecuted therein (Davies, 2011). The commission featured 60 evidentiary hearings and 9 days of closing oral submissions. A total of 68 witnesses were called upon to provide testimony.

Throughout the last one hundred and fifty years, there has been a history of tension and conflict between the police and minority communities in the United States. In principle, the police exist to enforce the law and protect all citizens regardless of race or ethnic background, yet police departments across the country have been repeatedly accused of targeting and harassing racial minorities, and of failing to root out racist attitudes and practices within their ranks. In recent years, high profile cases such as the beating of Rodney King in Los Angles and the assault on Abner Louima in New York have only served to heighten concerns over the mistreatment of minorities by the police, resulting in widespread calls for major legal and institutional reforms. The recent shootings of Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, Eric Garner, and Terrance Crutcher underscore the danger Black men and boys face when they cross paths with law enforcement officers. In the absence of a coordinated national strategy, state and local police departments have largely been left to develop their own solutions to the problems of policing minority communities and improving cultural sensitivity amongst their officers. Many departments have sought to reform recruitment and selection policies in the hope of attracting greater numbers of minority applicants, while others have instituted diversity training and education programs aimed at improving police understanding of minority cultures and communities. To date, however, these efforts have yielded mixed results. Some departments have achieved notable successes, but on the whole, relations between the police and minority communities across the country remain strained. of cultural diversity and the police.

However racism within the force goes back decades as before 1984 police were allowed to stop and search whoever they wanted therefore it became easier and more of a habit to target people who fit ‘criminal persona’. This laid back approach to stop and search caused problems because police became

MacDonald presents an adequate amount of knowledge by stating research found by “credible” foundations, but when evaluated closely, there is faulty reasoning within her arguments. Towards the middle of the article, two claims are brought out-- One, that police encounter “tens of thousands” of armed felons a year without using lethal force and that roughly “987 people” were fatally shot. Two: fifty percent of police shooting victims are white; in comparison to the twenty-six percent that are African- American. The author fails to properly cite her sources, which causes the reader to wonder where she pulled the information. Consequently, her credibility diminishes. In addition to the unknown sources, MacDonald seems to have committed a fallacy in her thinking process. In the very beginning of her article, she states that since the police have reframed from

The murder of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager, in a racist attack in 1993, resulted in a detailed inquiry published in 1999 outlining the existence of institutional racism and as many as 70 recommended changes in policies regarding how police should communicate with ethnic minority

MacDonald’s piece on the “Ferguson Effect” holds some validity, rather than being completely correct. Considering the incidents of minority lives being brutally taken by the hands of the police, issues such as racial profiling are becoming an excuse for not completing the task at hand. Recently police officers have been brutally beaten or killed by their own negligence of holding a suspect, regardless of race accountable. Officers want to avoid the possibility of losing their job or lives when coming in contact with a potential offender of a minority race. While being conscious of not racial profiling these police officers are, in fact, making ethical choices. However, the police need to have some sort of accountability like citizens. MacDonald

Multiculturalism is the view that those cultures, ethnicities and races particularly of minority should warrant distinct acknowledgment and support of their diverse differences within a dominant culture. Ideology surrounding multiculturalism ranges from the advocacy of equality to promoting the preservation of cultural diversity. Policing in the UK has long been stigmatised with regards to race relations. Procedures for recruitment underwent two major transformations following on from the Race Relations Act 1961; carried out in the 1980’s and early 2000s after official inquires prompted by a botched police investigation into a racially motivated murder in 1982. Historically, dominated by white males the UK force was criticised for its sexist and racist culture. The disproportionate employment of ethnic minorities in police and other public services came to light as a result of the publication of the Macpherson Report 1999, into the inquiry following Stephen Lawrence’s racist murder. The duties of public authorities to prevent such discrimination was reinforced by the Race Relations Act 2000 as well as their obligation to promote equality and healthy relations between different races. Following on from this, all 43 forces between England and Wales were set varying quotas with regards to increasing recruitment of officers from ethnic minorities. Throughout …

Race is a delicate subject to speak on but it can be posed as a factor of why police officers do not fulfil their duties to society accordingly. There has been a number of cases with black women and men who have been treated horribly in the care of police officers. These citizens have either been injured, or killed when in an officer’s custody. This act would automatically make certain citizens feel unsafe. Police officers are called Peace Officers to

At the beginning of the story, Lawrence was a bad, bad man. For example, he fired his best worker because he was eating at the job on his day off. Well, that night Lawrence saw the worker who he fired earlier that day at an Italian restaurant. He drives off disgusted. Then he looks over and sees his dead brother’s ghost was in a seatbelt sitting in the passenger seat. His brother starts telling him that he can do good but all he is doing is bad things. Then the ghost takes him to the night when the worker, whose name is Miguel, crying and talking with his wife about him getting fired. Miguel’s youngest son is giving his dad his piggy bank and that reminds Lawrence of what he did to his dad when he was a child. Lawrence then sees all of his

During 1829, Parliament established the “London Metropolitan Police Act,” which approved the foundation of an administration sponsored police drive. This new police drive had a standing quality of a thousand men serving under the bearing of Sir Robert Peel. “There were 17 divisions, which had 4 examiners and 144 constables each. The power central command was Scotland Yard, and it offered an explanation to the Home Secretary.” (19th Century Justice, 2006). In spite of the fact that wrongdoing was taking off, many individuals expected this new police power would break down into a battle ready instrument for political persecution and the refusal of opportunity. “During the mid eighteenth century, the police were frequently cruel and tormenting,

In America there has been a lot of black deaths , caused by white policemen or whites period.Some police men make up lies or stories to cover up what they did. “There needs to be better training here in America”(Trout) for everyone’s safety. Anybody will believe a policeman before they will a colored man and they know that, That’s why they do what they do. The main way to train them differently is with race, and anyone who is a policeman that is racist should be fired.

Quoting Lord Hope in the case of Gillian v. Quinton : “Common sense tells us that the nature of the terrorist threat will play a large part in the selection process. Typically terrorist acts are planned, organised and perpetrated by people acting together to promote a common cause rather than by individuals. They will have a common agenda. They are likely to be linked to sectors of the community that, because of their racial, ethnic or geographical origins, are readily identifiable.”2According to the PACE Code of Practice which provides guidance to police officers on the conduct that is expected from them carrying out their duties such as questioning suspects, obtaining witness statements and stop and search. It was stated in PACE that the primary purpose of the power is “to enable officers to allay or confirm suspicions about individuals without exercising their power of arrest.” 3 Furthermore, under section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000, the threshold to carry out a stop and search is to have a reasonable suspicion that the person is a terrorist. It is often a sensitive area of police work, as protector of citizens, they have the duty to identity and expose any potential harm before it could cause any damages. However, if done without caution and care, discrimination could be perceived, though not intended. Measures have been implemented in order to reduce the tension in such situations under the government of Blair and Brown, but it still needs to be further examined. This phenomenon can be explained through various theories but I shall on focus on the “Conflict Theory”. Conflict theory believes that legal enforcements and their powers enable the more dominant groups in society to take away the threat against them, this is often interpreted as interests that conflict with the interest of such dominant groups enough to be considered a threat, in particular, those of different race,sexual