British police attitudes towards Asians

Earlier this year, the BBC decided on a covert experiment to test police racism. The outcome appeared in the programme The Secret Policeman on 21 Oct 2003. A BBC reporter, Mark Daly, went undercover as a police recruit for the Greater Manchester force and spent 6 months secretly filming other police recruits whom he suspected to be racist.

The project was prompted by comments made in 1998 by Greater Manchester Police's then chief constable, David Wilmot, that society and his force were institutionally racist. “It’s our duty to make sure it (racism) is eradicated and doesn’t interfere with our duties.” It was the Macpherson public inquiry into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence that had brought out police racism in the open and the report (1999) made 70 recommendations how police should deal with it. Police chiefs all vowed to change but under rightwing media pressure, the government buckled and there was little follow-up.

Police remains rife – for example, Blacks and Asians are 10 - 15 times more likely to be stopped and searched in the streets than whites. [A recent study by criminologist Ben Bowling of Kings’ College published new research into the use of police powers under the Criminal Justice Act (1994) which was aimed at tackling hooligans or illegal ravers. Under this law, police can stop people even without any reasonable grounds for suspicion. These discretionary powers have been used against ethnics – the research found that Asians are 18 times and Afro-Caribbeans 27 times more likely to be stopped than whites. ]

At the training college near Warrington, Cheshire, the tutors warned recruits that they mustn’t use four words on pain of dismissal: nigger, coon, wog, Paki. Daly recorded the comments of several Police Constables - Keith Cheshire (C), Rob Pulling (P), Andy Hall (H1), Adrian Harrison (H2), Steve Salkeld (S), Tony Letwin (L), Carl Jones (J), Turley … He found that they interjected the f-word liberally in their talk – partly a result of  poor vocabulary & powers of expression. He also noted that most of the abuse was reserved for Asians. Here are the more incriminating remarks made during conversations. [Below ‘cos’ = because, ‘innit’ = isn’t, ‘f..g’ = fucking, **** = Paki, c*** = coon or cunt?]

Constable H1: [He had been in the London police before] If you did not discriminate and bring out your prejudices, you’d be a shit copper… We used to drive down the road and say: he looks a dodgy c***, let’s stop him. That is practical policing.

There was a single Asian among the 120 recruits. The Chief Inspector had personally asked him to apply and he had been fast tracked into training. The others resented what they saw as preferential treatment. They increasingly made personal remarks like ‘fat bastard’, ‘smelly’, ‘irritating’. When a cold was going round, the Asian was blamed.

Daly: Who gave you the cold?

P: To be honest, it’s the f..g curse of the class

C: It started off with ****. Yeah, I think it did.  

P: It’s the f..g pain in the arse of the f..g whole world.

C: To be honest, I make jokes about black people. Everybody does but you don’t do it in their face and not in class.

D: What would you call a ****?

P: I’d call him a Paki to be honest – in the street... A dog born in a barn is still a dog. A Paki born in Britain is still a f..g Paki.

D: If you were walking down the road and you see ****, what comes to your mind?

H1: Stopping him.

D: Why?

H1: Searching him cos he’s black, cos he’s Asian… It’s f..g proactive policing, yeah innit? He’s a Paki and I’m f..g English. At the end of the day, we look after our own.

D:  What’s the furthest you’d go?

P: I’d go as far as I can get away with… I’d call him a f..g Paki bastard. If I could get away with burying the f..ker under a train rack, he’s f..g going under there.

P: I’m still a firm believer that these Pakis create racism – creating all the adverse reactions to him.

D: What’s your ultimate aim?

P: To eradicate the whole f..g country of people like (them).’

Constable L was soon to patrol the streets of Manchester.

D: What do you think about Asian in the force?

L: Truthfully, f..k them all off. I admit I am a racist bastard. I don’t mind blacks. Asians. No.

Constable J: I don’t mind blacks – proper blacks. It’s just Pakis – they claim everything. I used to f..g rip them off  – called it BAT (Black Added Tax). 

Constable T: We don’t have many ethnic minorities here. To be honest, they are a pain in the f..g arse. They rip the f..g system big style. They’ll pull a fast one every time

D: On your job, do you treat a white differently from an Asian?

H1: Yes, cos all Asians are lying bastards… We should have armed guards at the Calais crossing with guns and any c*** tries to get in f..g shoot them.

Back in N Wales Daly met Pulling policing there. He had stopped a white woman with no insurance and let her go, using his discretion. Then half an hour later, he stopped a car with an Asian man & family.

P: Gave one £200 fixed penalty ticket (no insurance) and just to kick him in the bollocks even more, gave him another £60 for no tax. And 6 points on that f..ker’s licence. 'You’ve got no insurance and tax, I cannot let you leave, you’ll be committing another offence'.

He, his wife and 3 kids got out of the f..g car, had to walk half a mile back to the holiday camp.

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