Words by Rume Otuguor
April 22nd marked 30 years since 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence was killed in a racially motivated attack in Eltham, London. The 1999 Macpherson Report into how his death was handled revealed that the police acted with ÔÇÿprofessional incompetence’ and at a fundamental level, they were ÔÇÿinstitutionally racist’. Based off the report’s 70 recommendations, some changes were made ÔÇô most notably the eradication of the ÔÇÿdouble jeopardy rule’– which disallowed people to be trialled for the same crime twice. This led to the historic moment in 2012 when two major suspects from that fateful night were convicted for Lawrence’s murder. Yet, three decades on from his death and 24 years since Macpherson, another damning report has surfaced echoing the exact same sentiment.┬á
The March 2023 Casey Report found racism to be ÔÇÿbaked’ into the organisation as ÔÇÿ46% of Black and 33% of Asian officers said that they’d experienced racism at work’. On top of this, ÔÇÿBlack officers are 81% more likely to be subject to a misconduct case than White officers’. In view of the public, Black Londoners have the lowest confidence in the police resulting from years of persistent maltreatment. Black people are ÔÇÿunder protected’ and ÔÇÿoverpoliced’; more than any other ethnic group we are victims of homicide, domestic abuse and discriminatory stop and search tactics. However, the Met continue to ride the line that the force is nowhere near what it was in the 1990s. Perhaps not, but when in 2023 they are not only found to be racist but sexist and homophobic also, their progress must not be overstated. The urgency of this report arrested the attention of Westminster with the Prime Minister declaring the revelations as ÔÇÿabhorrent’ during his weekly questions. But it’s a shame that the government cannot see how they perpetuate these same ÔÇÿunacceptable’ attitudes with their Rwanda scheme.
In response to the report, Neville Lawrence ÔÇô the father of Stephen Lawrence ÔÇô lamented that ÔÇÿthey have disrespected our sacrifice and the loss of Stephen,’ and believed that particularly under this current government, nothing would change. The reprehensible case of Child Q and the unlawful killing of Chris Kaba are racist incidents which further expose the culture of hate within the police force. Casey ultimately calls for ÔÇÿa complete overhaul’ of the Met, in order to earn back, if there was any to begin with, trust and assurance from Black communities. One can only hope that real change will come from this.
