Racist language still used by police

Two reports into the impact of the inquiry into the black teenager's racist murder said some ethnic minority officers felt there had not been genuine changes in culture, dismissing attempts to wipe out racist language as "largely cosmetic".

The Home Office-funded studies concluded, however, that the Lawrence inquiry in 1999 led to "substantial and positive changes" among officers. Hate crimes and murder inquiries were handled better and the police had built better links with minority communities.

But the research warned: "Improvements are not uniform across the service. Forces have focused on the most identifiable and achievable changes (individual racism rather than indirect discrimination). Certain groups still receive an inappropriate or inadequate service because of their culture or ethnic origin."

The reports also found women and gay officers still felt excluded by a "predominantly male, heterosexist culture". The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, said: "There is no room for complacency and there remains particular concern around gender."