IPCC to review police racism complaints

The British police watchdog has announced a review into widespread racism in British police, stressing that they suggest a much wider “disaffection and dissatisfaction" with the Metropolitan Police. The Independent Police Complaints Commission also conducted two new investigations into racist abuse by police officers and said it would "increase its level of scrutiny" of how Scotland Yard deals with complaints of discrimination. IPCC’s senior officials voiced their concerns that the Met police have failed to handle racism 13 years after it was labeled as being institutionally racist by the Macpherson inquiry, launched after the death of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. The watchdog said the new review would sample old and ongoing complaints about racism to figure out if the police force was properly handling reports of discrimination. Future complaints would also be handled by the IPCC, allowing it "to undertake a thematic review of those cases to identify any trends and learning for the police." The Metropolitan police has referred 11 cases of racism to the IPCC as eight police officers and one civilian member of staff have been suspended. Racism within the British police came under spotlight two weeks ago when the Guardian published a video recording showing a police officer racially abusing a 21-year-old black man. Moreover, CCTV footage showed another officer assaulting a 15-year-od black teenager. The two incidents took place on August 11 when the British police was trying to tackle the unprecedented unrest triggered by the police’s shooting of an unarmed black man, Mark Duggan. IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin stressed that people are concerned about the issues of fairness and respect. “The British policing model, which relies on policing by consent, simply cannot deliver a professional service if sections of the population perceive it to be unfair and discriminatory." The Met chief Bernard Hogan-Howe will appear before parliament's home affairs select committee on Tuesday to be questioned by MPs over the mounting race scandal in the country.