Police forces still racist - report

The police force is still institutionally racist despite efforts to tackle the issue, a review claimed.

Police force remains institutionally racist report said Police force remains institutionally racist, report said

The report by the influential Runnymede Trust, criticised the failure to promote and retain black officers and the overuse of stop and search techniques against black and multi-ethnic groups.

And some police forces are still "dragging their feet" when it comes to recording and reporting racist crimes, it was claimed.

The findings come from the Runnymede Trust review 'The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 10 Years On'. Black teenager Stephen Lawrence was killed in an unprovoked racist knife attack by a group of five white youths in April 1993.

Ten years ago, the Macpherson inquiry severely criticised the police for its handling of the subsequent murder investigation.

The Runnymede Trust singled out the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for praise for its work on recording and monitoring data related to racist incidents.

But the review found that in the intervening years since the inquiry, there were still significant problems.

It claimed that black and multi-ethnic officers were more likely to be dismissed than their white colleagues. A disproportionate amount of black and multi-ethnic officers were also found to be leaving their careers in the police force early. And more work was still needed to get black and multi-ethnic people into the police.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are determined to work with the police service to offer fair and equal opportunities to all its members, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or background. We have already come a long way: over the last 10 years minority ethnic officer representation in the police service has doubled.

"Following our own ministerial assessment we are driving forward initiatives to overcome any remaining barriers in minority ethnic recruitment, retention and progression in the police."

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