Podium: We need a new form of policing for our multi-ethnic society
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The publication on 24 February 1999 of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report was hailed as a defining moment in police relations with Black and minority ethnic groups. It highlighted the ways in which the criminal justice system had repeatedly let down the Lawrence family through "collective failure" of the murder investigation and "institutional racism".
The report's recommendations sought improved openness and accountability across the criminal justice system and focused the police and other law enforcement practitioners on tackling institutional racism. A decade later, the Runnymede Trust has sought, in The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 10 Years On: A Critical Review of the Literature, to document the extent of progress in meeting the recommendations of the Inquiry.
There are some indications of positive change, most notably in the way that the Crown Prosecution Service takes cases involving racist motivation more seriously. However, there remain many ways in which the relationship between police and Black and minority ethnic groups has not changed significantly from 10 years ago.
This is evident in terms of the challenges faced by Black and minority ethnic police officers and staff and, in a chilling echo of the "sus" laws of the 1970s, the continued over-representation of Black people among the figures on stop and search.
To move forward, it is crucial that we create a new form of policing for our multi-ethnic society. In this way, the legacy of Stephen Lawrence and the lessons learned through the Inquiry can remain as significant to the young people of today as to older generations.
This means understanding and engaging with issues of racism, identity and justice in a way that not only focuses on Black and minority ethnic groups. We need strategies to address their needs, but also to seriously challenge the taken-for-granted practices and procedures of organisations built to serve the less diverse communities of a bygone age.
This is the Foreword to the 'The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 10 Years on', to be published next Monday by the Runnymede Trust, of which Dr Richard Stone is vice chair. He is also a former panel member of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments