Police forces in the UK have got away with racism for too long

The force’s racism is endemic, ignored and institutionalised, Michael explains (Picture: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

As I watched the video that Black tradesman, Josh King, sent me, I felt an all-too-familiar pain.

In it, he was dragged out of his car in September by white Met Police officers, after being stopped because the car he was driving was likely deemed too nice to be driven by a Black man.

He was apparently told that he didn’t ‘look like an electrician’, so then said he lost business as a result of an unnecessarily ‘traumatic’ stop and search.

It felt painful to watch because a similar thing happened to me in 2009. It would seem the generational trauma experienced by us both is still being fuelled by an institutionally racist police force.

So the announcement of a Police Race Action Plan (PRAP) in 2020, was about as welcome as a skunk in a sauna to me. 

It’s far from the breath of fresh air some may think it is – especially after a damning recent report has hit out at the ‘glacial’ progress it’s made.

See, the plan at its well-intentioned core is a roadmap on how to improve trust and confidence in policing among Black communities. A necessity as, in the words of the National Police Chief’s Council, policing is determined to become an anti-racist organisation that actively roots out bias and discrimination from its ranks.

Just the thing for the trust and confidence eroded by racist police over the decades. Just the thing for people like Josh and I.

Unfortunately, I’m old enough to remember the Scarman and Macpherson Reports, Lammy and now Baroness Casey Reviews. All of which are gathering dust or I believe have been cherry-picked from to deliver absolutely nothing worthwhile. 

The last thing we all needed was more costly words in a document to be ignored, as well as an increase in theatrics as commissioners up and down the country tick boxes, grip the hands of Black communities, and grin for the cameras. 

For it then to be ignored, just like the last one of its kind.

After I attended the first iterations of the PRAP roll out in May of 2022 – where chief constables introduced the concept to community activists – it was clear this was an issue being kicked into the long grass by people going through the motions.

This plan was deemed as groundbreaking as it would take the Black community along on the journey. We would be spoken with, not spoken at – because people who looked like us, both inside and outside of policing, would be involved in communicating it to people who looked like us.

This is a force that looks progressive and like it’s listening, but it’s not actually doing anything

But, as someone who has previously worked within government comms. I recognise the pattern of phraseology ‘root and branch’ as it’s a phrase I used a lot. We’d incorporate this into speeches and letters to members of the public. It’s a phrase that sounds great for visualisation. A phrase which meant we’d be doing the opposite. 

My disappointment was shared by other activists who listened as seasoned cops were struggling to say the word ‘racism’, let alone identifying how they would convince the rank-and-file to get on board. 

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, instead of accepting the outcomes of Baroness Casey’s comprehensive report from 2023 – following the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard from a Met Police officer – chose to sidestep one of its crucial findings: that of a Metropolitan Police that is ‘institutionally racist’.

The force’s racism is endemic, ignored and institutionalised. 

Addressing this would have jump-started the PRAP – instead, Rowley chose to deflate its tyres. He chose to bump his gums as he apparently found labels unhelpful.

To me, Rowley’s approach is one of ignorance where race is concerned, says Michael (Picture: Jeff Moore – Pool/Getty Images)

Rowley claimed that he accepted Casey’s findings, but wouldn’t accept her description of the force being institutionally biased. 

Basically, he’s uncomfortable with saying that the force has been found to be racist.

To me, this was one of many red flags that the Police Race Action Plan was going nowhere fast from the start.

So it comes as no surprise that the Police Race Action Plan has been reported to be travelling at a ‘glacial pace’ by the Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board (ISOB). So much so that the board has called on the new Government to intervene.

Unsurprisingly, our late Conservative Government was reported by the IOSB to have taken ‘no real interest’ in the report in the past.

However, I have no confidence that any progress will be made, given this is the same party who effectively sidelined Diane Abbott and reportedly dissuaded Jovan Owusu-Nepaul from campaigning against Nigel Farage in Clacton.

Until Rowley goes, Black people will continue to be stopped by white police officers, says Michael (Picture: Mark Kerrison/In Pictures via Getty Images)

In effect, this is a stalled plan. The lacklustre way in which this is being rolled out is not the only stumbling block.

The National Black Police Association, which represents Black and Minority Ethnic staff and officers in UK policing, has in recent days suspended all support for the Police Race Action Plan. 

They deem their working environment to be ‘toxic’ and the experiences and views of Black people and civil society organisations are ‘neither listened to nor valued’. 

Regardless, it’s vital that this issue is addressed now. 

The Runnymede Trust in its recently published analysis of Home Office data, observes that Black children are 6.5 times more likely, and Black adults 4.7 times more likely, to be strip-searched than their white counterparts. 

According to the charity Mind, Black men in mental health crises are far more likely to be restrained by the cops and sectioned, while taser use is eight times higher for us than white people.

On top of that, we are also seven times more likely to be killed following restraint by police.

Surely we all want a just society where parity exists and racism is suppressed wherever it presents itself? Surely we want a police force fit for purpose? 

The Police Race Action Plan sadly is not the way either of these will be achieved. Especially in the way that it is being rolled out. 

Policing has never had a radical intervention. Hierarchy and rank has led to a bowing and scraping mentality where reform is resisted and change is kicked into the long grass. 

This needs to change. 

Police chiefs need to be penalised for dragging their feet and where they are not performing to baseline benchmarks in terms of progress.

The Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board should be an integral part of this change process, but it has no real power and has none of the teeth necessary to implement the transformation of thinking that is needed. 

On the face of it, this is a force that looks progressive and like it’s listening, but it’s not actually doing anything.

For this change process to truly work, Rowley must go. To me, his approach is one of ignorance where race is concerned and denying institutional racism exists is a massive hindrance to a change process that involves just this. 

Community awareness, engagement, support and trust needs to be an integral part, too. Only Rowley’s departure will show the seriousness of attention this is being given. 

Until then, Black people – like Josh and I – will continue to be stopped by white police officers, simply because we don’t look like we belong to the cars we choose to drive.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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