Met commander admits force will never achieve anti-racism

The
Metropolitan Police is still institutionally racist, according to the commander
of the force’s anti-racist unit as the 10-year anniversary of Stephen
Lawrence’s murder is marked.

Commander
Cressida Dick, head of the Met’s diversity directorate, admitted the force
would probably never be totally free of racism.

The
handling of the Lawrence case led to a shake-up in how the force handles racial
matters.

Dick
told the Independent newspaper it was difficult to imagine a time when she would
be able to say the force was no longer institutionally racist.

However,
she also claimed the Met had made great progress in the way it tried to root
out and eradicate racism.

Eighteen-year-old
Stephen Lawrence was stabbed to death at a bus stop in South-East London and
the following bungled police investigation failed to convict anyone of the
murder.

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In
1999 the subsequent public inquiry led by Sir William McPherson labelled the
force institutionally racist.

By Ross Wigham