Danger..minefield ahead.
A Parliamentary report headed by Kieth Vaz has concluded that police are still 'institutionally racist' This release coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Macpherson enquiry findings.
Basically it appears that despite the 'conclusions' made by Macpherson we are actually stopping and searching more black people than 1999!
This report was cranked out prior to the Honourable members taking the best part of a 3 month break so details are sketchy but my issues are this.
The article on the report does not clarify if the stops were justified or not. The fact that the numbers are skewed towards black people does not explain why the stops were made, under what circumstances,whether the individuals are known to police and form part of a local proactive campaign to disrupt certain crime trends.
If the Honourable members are suggesting that, based on the stats, police are actively targeting blacks and ignoring criminals or crimes committed by white/Asian/other then lets call for a full public enquiry to establish the true facts behind the figures.
No calls for that in the article.
Mr Vaz talks of the disproportionate imbalance of DNA of black people held on the database. If DNA is held on the database then it is because people have been arrested and brought into custody for offences.
If the Honourable members are suggesting that, based on the stats, that police are actively targeting black people and either ignoring criminals or crimes committed by white/Asian/other or even 'fitting up' said black people to skew the figures then lets call for a full public enquiry to establish the true facts behind the figures.
No calls for that in the article.
It was Paul Condon who,years ago, as Commissioner, stated that black youth were over represented in certain types of crime.The usual furore which followed was that he was actually stating that all black people are (or were potentially) criminals which was and IS utter nonsense.He was simply stating stats on certain crimes.
10 years after Macpherson and the police have undergone major internal reform. We have been educated,informed,re-aligned in our views and yet we are apparently still stopping and searching more black people than white/Asian /other.
I don't believe we are doing this because we are really unreformed unrepentant misfits of a bygone age. We are doing this because we are reacting to what we are dealing with,real time,on the streets. That the figures don't skew to some perceived acceptable norm is beyond our control.
This brief article on the report is about figures and their interpretation.What better soundbite than to give a dig at the police again on the 10th anniversary of the utterances of the sage Macpherson without clarifying detail.
Then again according to the Telegraph Mr Vaz is not so hot on figures anyway.
Basically it appears that despite the 'conclusions' made by Macpherson we are actually stopping and searching more black people than 1999!
This report was cranked out prior to the Honourable members taking the best part of a 3 month break so details are sketchy but my issues are this.
The article on the report does not clarify if the stops were justified or not. The fact that the numbers are skewed towards black people does not explain why the stops were made, under what circumstances,whether the individuals are known to police and form part of a local proactive campaign to disrupt certain crime trends.
If the Honourable members are suggesting that, based on the stats, police are actively targeting blacks and ignoring criminals or crimes committed by white/Asian/other then lets call for a full public enquiry to establish the true facts behind the figures.
No calls for that in the article.
Mr Vaz talks of the disproportionate imbalance of DNA of black people held on the database. If DNA is held on the database then it is because people have been arrested and brought into custody for offences.
If the Honourable members are suggesting that, based on the stats, that police are actively targeting black people and either ignoring criminals or crimes committed by white/Asian/other or even 'fitting up' said black people to skew the figures then lets call for a full public enquiry to establish the true facts behind the figures.
No calls for that in the article.
It was Paul Condon who,years ago, as Commissioner, stated that black youth were over represented in certain types of crime.The usual furore which followed was that he was actually stating that all black people are (or were potentially) criminals which was and IS utter nonsense.He was simply stating stats on certain crimes.
10 years after Macpherson and the police have undergone major internal reform. We have been educated,informed,re-aligned in our views and yet we are apparently still stopping and searching more black people than white/Asian /other.
I don't believe we are doing this because we are really unreformed unrepentant misfits of a bygone age. We are doing this because we are reacting to what we are dealing with,real time,on the streets. That the figures don't skew to some perceived acceptable norm is beyond our control.
This brief article on the report is about figures and their interpretation.What better soundbite than to give a dig at the police again on the 10th anniversary of the utterances of the sage Macpherson without clarifying detail.
Then again according to the Telegraph Mr Vaz is not so hot on figures anyway.
3 Comments:
Keith Vaz was involved in the dodgy passport application a few years back even before theexpenses scandal. I really worry what he has got to say. I recently stopped a group of black youths in a robbery hotspot and was accused of racism untill namechecks revealed they were all convicted robbers!! My reply about stopping the right people in the right area was not well recieved!! There are lots of reasons why black people are over represented in the crime figures, social deprivation lack of positive male role models et. The quick easy fix is to blame the police and sort them out!!
Ah Dibble, Inspector Leviathan Hobbes has blogged also on this plank Vaz and his b/s.
Great minds think alike methinks.
Anon and The Cogitator
It really annoys me that the likes of these assorted Parliamentary committes,vested interest groups and Quangos (who are still looking for that next big stick to hit us with)continue to throw these stats out at the police as an organisation and we seem 'content' to just sit there and and take it.
We should be calling for a full public,impartial,debate on what is actually behind the figures.I suspect that the above would not like the reasons laid bare.
These groups and sections of the media have intransigent perceptions which indicate as much 'unwillingness to change' as the accusations they levy against us.
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