Remembering Stephen Lawrence, 30 years after his racially motivated murder

“The Macpherson report was a watershed moment in the history of British policing,” said Professor Stuart Lister, the pro-dean for research and innovation of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Leeds. “It officially acknowledged the enduringly fraught relationship between the police and the Black community, and in labelling the Metropolitan Police ‘institutionally racist’ led to a wide range of far-reaching reforms designed to promote trust and confidence in police among the Black community.

“Previously, concerns had been focused on the over-policing of this community and the disproportionate use of police powers against them, but the report drew attention to how racial prejudice led to the under-policing of Black people and gross failings to protect them when they become victims of racist violence.

“As a result, and over the last decades, there has been a sustained effort across all police forces to work more closely with their local communities, to be more accountable and open themselves up to greater scrutiny, and to build a more ethnically diverse workforce.

“The recent evidence of the Casey report into the culture of the Metropolitan Police shows, however, that rooting out discriminatory processes and practices remains a fundamental and deep-rooted challenge for the police.”

Darren Downs, a lecturer in professional policing at the University of Hull, who is also the former Assistant Chief Constable of Humberside Police, said Stephen’s murder had highlighted wrongs within society and policing.

He added: “It has been the catalyst for so much change and while there is still a lot of work to do I don’t think we would have achieved as much if it wasn’t for the Lawrence report, the drive of Stephen’s family and the legacy it has created."

Professor Simon Green, Professor of Criminology and Victimology at the University of Hull, who is also the interim Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, believes that, three decades later, we should remember Stephen’s racially-motivated murder for three reasons.

“One, the tragic loss of a young life filled with potential,’’ he said. “Two, Stephen’s family’s search for justice and the subsequent exposure of the Metropolitan Police as ‘institutionally racist’ in the Macpherson report. Three, the ongoing reminder that racism, both institutional and individual, continues to adversely shape the lives of black, Asian and minority ethnic people in the UK.”Mr Downs added: "For me, ‘institutional’ means the systems, processes and policies in which an institution operates are by default discriminatory and creates conflict on many fronts. All individuals have biases and these are often unconscious and unknown, and when they as individuals create processes and systems they can have the bias threaded throughout, often unintentionally.

“In many institutions the majority of decision makers or people who drive the dominant culture have similar biases, and the result can then mean the institution itself can develop that culture and policy is equally impacted on.

“An example would be a training product developed to deliver awareness of different religions and beliefs throughout communities, with no involvement with those communities and delivered by an individual with no lived experience of the different religions and beliefs.”

Professor Green said “institutional racism” is not normally about individual police officers holding racist beliefs but about the differential treatment of black, Asian and minority ethnic people based on unconscious bias in policing.

He added: “Institutional racism’ can be understood as a consequence of wider ‘systemic’ discrimination towards people of colour that is so firmly rooted in our culture and history that the majority (white) culture doesn’t recognise it because they haven’t usually grown up with it, felt it in their day-to-day lives, and don’t hold overtly racist opinions themselves. “Institutional racism is not reducable to the level of the individual police officer, it is something that exists at the level of the organisation, or society, and only revealing itself through the shocking catalogue of assumptions and mistakes during the investigation of Stephen Lawrence’s murder.”

Mr Downs said society as a whole has similar problems to the policing and the justice system.

He added: "The police are often the shop window and cast a much bigger shadow that is clear for all to see, yet many other areas such as schools, health and the courts cast a much smaller shadow that is harder to see and under much less scrutiny. We will never police our way out of the social challenges that exist such as racism, homophobia and misogyny and need everyone to be part of the solution.”

Professor Green said, many institutions, including his own university, are now consciously trying to understand the experiences of black, Asian and minority ethnic people. This can be achieved by drilling into the data to see what the evidence tells us, asking people of colour about their experiences, and ensuring the organisational structure includes people from different backgrounds at all levels and then using all three to drive change.

Mr Downs said policing has changed as a direct consequence of the Lawrence Inquiry and the tireless work of Stephen’s family, particularly his parents Doreen and Neville.

He added: "There are still significant amounts of work to do and a long journey ahead, but it has made a difference and will continue to do so. The desire to change and continue to be better is there and the drive and passion I see around many public bodies across the criminal justice system is fantastic.”

Mr Downs added: "Police training up and down the country and the degree programmes still reference and use the Lawrence report as the basis for educating officers and new recruits to make sure the lessons are known and the change continues."

Professor Green added: “At the University of Hull, we are helping to teach the next generation of police officers and routinely talk about this, and many other examples of injustice and discrimination with our students. But the real issue remains in the space between ‘classroom’, ‘training centre’ and what is ‘learnt’ on the job. To change this, we must work with the police to bring new experience and expertise into their organisation and through this challenge their, and our own systems, and assumptions to create a fairer, safer and more tolerant society."

The National Police Chiefs’ Council has established the police race action plan which seeks to create an anti-racist culture within policing. It has the goal of ensuring the experiences of Britain’s Black communities, officers and staff have a direct influence on policies and practices. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was not planning to make a statement in connection with the anniversary of Stephen’s murder, but it welcomed the recent report by Baroness Casey of Blackstock into culture and standards at the Met. The review was commissioned in 2021 following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer. The Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has launched a turnaround plan, which details how the Met aims to achieve its mission of “more trust, less crime and high standards”. In his introduction to the report Sir Mark says: “We have to tackle standards issues head on. We have been too weak in countering racism, misogyny, homophobia and ableism...I am determined to win back Londoners’ trust. We can succeed because of the dedicated, honest, often heroic, men and women who are the great majority of the Met.”