Police
trainers should face legal action if they don’t stamp out racism in the police
force, says a government report.
At
least 14 police forces and several police authorities have come under fire by
the Commission for Racial Equality report for failing to crack down on racism.
The
inquiry found little had been achieved by race equality training introduced
after police were branded “institutionally racist” for their failings during
the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry.
Police
trainers, who were supposed to play a part in eradicating prejudice among
officers, were condemned for often being hostile to race equality themselves.
The
Commission criticised the lack of procedures for dealing with racism and said
some forces did not understand the steps they needed to take to ensure
equality. It recommended legal action against police forces who continued to
break race equality legislation.
The
police authorities responsible for overseeing the 43 forces in Wales and
England were also criticised for their lack of equality planning, despite
having been warned to tackle the problem.
The
UK’s top police officers will now face public hearings on the issue, and are
expected to be challenged over whether they are taking the problem seriously.
By
Paul Yandall
