Conference tnpubs::tnpubs_vod

22.0. "Racism and London police" by TNPUBS::PAINTER (worlds beyond this) Tue Sep 01 1992 13:23

LONDON'S POLICE ARE LEARNING TO COMBAT RACISM IN THEIR OWN RANKS 
 
LONDON (SEP. 1) DPA - Malkanjit Natt reacted quickly when he was arrested by 
officers from London's Metropolitan Police and switched on his tape recorder.  
 
The machine recorded a torrent of verbal abuse. "Go home. You know, India or 
Pakistan or wherever you f...ing come from. It's not your country," the two 
officers told him. Then they beat him up.  
 
After a subsequent disciplinary hearing the policemen were ordered to pay a 
small fine.  
 
In future, police found guilty of such racist behaviour are not to get away 
with it as lightly, but will have to fear for their jobs.  
 
The commanding officers want to train newcomers to receive better training in 
how to deal people from minorities from the start.  
 
"Whatever the provocation and circumstances, that sort of behaviour is not 
aceptable in the Metropolitan Police," London's police commissioner Sir Peter 
Imbert said after the Natt case.  
 
Imbert has made the investigation and punishment of racist incidents in the 
ranks an issue for the force's leadership.  
 
The level of racial prejudice in the capital's police cannot be expressed in 
figures. Neither statistics nor estimates on the subject are made public.  
 
"Racial prejudices and attacks are part of everyday life in the police force," 
said Margaret Michie from the independent Commission for Racial Equality.  
 
But only 1.7 per cent of London's more than 28,000 police are members of an 
ethnic or religious minority.  
 
"Hostility and discrimination can be found in the force as well," Michie said.  
 
Five years ago, Franklyn Asumah was the only black policeman on the beat in 
his area. After one-and-a-half years he lost patience with his colleagues' 
constant stream of disparaging comments.  
 
They called him unprintable names and let him know that his presence wasn't 
desired.  
 
Asumah lodged a complaint with his superiors. His action was not without 
consequences. From then on he always found inaccurate statements in his annual 
assessment reports that impeded his career.  
 
Asumah went to the Commission for Racial Equality and won his case in court 
with its help. London police had to pay him 20,000 pounds (nearly 40,000 
dollars) in damages.  
 
"Many won't go to their superiors like Asumah," Michie said, "for fear of not 
being promoted. They don't dare complain."  
 
Sergeant Clements, who trains young recruits, puts the aggression towards 
minorities down to ignorance or the lack of sensitivity among many colleagues.  
 
"Racist jokes in police canteens should not be tolerated," he said.  
 
Young police frequently come from the provinces with a distorted view of life 
in the multicultural capital.  
 
"They don't know anything about Rastafarianism, about Hinduism, the Moslems 
and the Jews, but they're full of prejudices and it is very difficult to flash 
it out over night."  
 
Copyright (c) 1992 Comtex Scientific Corporation
Received by NewsEDGE/LAN: 8/31/92 20:44