The Lawrence Report: An Old Present Newly Wrapped?
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The Lawrence Report: An Old Present Newly Wrapped? Nick Johns1 ‘Racial’ violence and hate crimes have been long-standing international problems and there is evidence to suggest that they are growing in countries as diverse as Germany2 and the United States.3 Levels of extremism are experiencing a parallel growth.4 Nor has Britain been impervious to this, as can be seen from the numerous ‘isolated’ incidents which police statistics suggest increase annually,5 to serious ‘race’ riots.6 In fact, over the last few months Britain has had to face some uncomfortable truths about its criminal justice system and its dealings with minority ethnic communities. The consequent sense of injustice at the treatment meted out to those communities by society in general, and the justice system in particular, has seemingly penetrated the mainstream consciousness as never before.7 On the 22nd of April 1993, Stephen Lawrence, a black 18-year-old ‘A’ level student, was savagely stabbed to death by five white youths in Eltham, South-East London. Due to the incompetence of the initial investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the prime suspects were not arrested until a fortnight later, and in July 1993 the Crown Prosecution Service dropped all charges (and did so again in April 1994). In response to public criticisms led by Stephen’s parents, Scotland Yard then conducted an internal review which has since been discredited. Shortly after, in April 1995, the Lawrences brought a private prosecution which ended in the three defendants being acquitted. At the inquest in February 1997, however, a verdict was returned that Stephen had been unlawfully killed by five white youths in an unprovoked racist attack. A second review conducted by Kent Constabulary on behalf of the Police Complaints Authority was established in March 1997, and it has been highly critical of the previous investigations. Shortly after their election that same year the Labour Government announced a public inquiry into the murder, headed by Sir William MacPherson.8 Here the suspects would at least be forced to appear, and the failings of the police investigations would be scrutinised and published. Several positive things have emerged from the report, which, in the words of the Home Secretary, was designed to fill the gaps left by the 1982 Scarman report. To some extent this has been achieved. For example, the public debate about racism within the police service has forced the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police to admit that institutional racism exists in the MPS; indeed, there has been a widespread acceptance that it is endemic in British society. But the revelation surrounding the definition of institutional racism is disturbing because, as the report itself makes clear, the concept has long been evident in the relevant literature. That is not the only hint of staleness in the report. Arguably, two of the central recommendations for dealing with institutional racism — one directed at the wider societal level, the other specifically at the police — merely
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