Police Vendetta Against Blacks

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"Merlyn Home Rees, Secretary told reporters at the opening of the Brick Lane police station (1978) that a senior officer had been sent to Bangladesh to find out the historical reasons for the distrust between the East End's Bengalis and the police force." (p.66)

It is difficult to believe that any police officer, let alone Merlyn Rees, could believe that this action would be remotely useful in sorting out the 'problemof deteriorating. relations between the police and black people.

For it is clear from the evidence gathered in this pamphlet that the deteriorating relations between the police and black people result entirely from the direct experience of the black community with the so-called 'forces of law and order' Discrimination In hundreds of examples the pamphlet shows that the black community is subject to continual discrimination and harrassment by the The format of the pamphlet is a systematic examination of all the areas in which black people experience police action with recommendations for change following each section.

Before we return to examine. these recommendations in detail it is important to give something of the flavour of the information on which those recommendations are based.

The pamphlet is divided into four broad areaspolice powers and the black community; police powers and the black individual; prosecution and conviction; and police accountability.

In the first section evidence is given which details the vast concentration of police forces in black areasespecially at events such as he Notting Hill Carnival, black meeting places and black localities generally. .

Weakness

Emphasis is given to the activities of the Special Patrol Group and the Illegal Immigration control unit.

The weaknesses in the pamphlet-which will become clearer when we deal with recommendations -are hinted at in the following formulation... 'The SPG has changed from its original function as a police support anti-crime unit to a police commando unit conducting indiscriminate stop and search activities in these 'high crime' areas and for use against demonstrations and pickets... " Quite obviously this 'change' was one from the original stated function.

The pamphlet shows that total numbers of those stoppea by tne . SPG and those arrested are quite different.

Stopped Arrested 1972 41,980 3,142 1973 34,534 3,339 1974 41,304 3,262 1975 65,628 4,125 1976 60,898 3,773 It would have been useful if the figures for convictions had been given the ins although as we shall see there is little correlation between guilt and conviction.

Many individual examples of SPG activity are given-too many to quote here.

The Illegal Immigration Intelligence Unit (IIIU) was set up in 1972 in the wake of the 1971 Immigration Act which came into force at the beginning of 1973 and 'gave police and immigration officers new powers of arrest (without warrant) and detention.' Since that time the black community has been subject to widespread, random raids and passport checks.

The IIIU (set up without reference to Parliament) has organised 'passport raids' on black • communities and supplied information to local forces, e.g. 'on October 11th 1973. . . in the East End of London where at least 10 premises were entered and more than 50 black people were taken to Leman Street police station. 14 of these were detained, 10 later being released when their right to be in this country had been established" (p.15).

Passport checks

"Passport checks by the police in Birmingham also in October 1973 led to the report that hundreds of immigrants in the Midlands planned to carry their passports around with them to give them "protection from the police' " (p.15).

These mass raids often follow the pretext of investigation of one particular crime and lead to many charges: for others.

The mass actions allow the police to gather large amounts of information' on those who have committed no crime and have been charged with no crime. This enables detailed surveillance of those 'suspected of being illegal immigrants or overstayers'. . The New Scientist January 1979 claims that "It is estimated that the names of some 15,700 'suspected' illegal entrants are held on the new Home Office computer"

Amnesties

One important area of the Immigration Act which could have been given more detailed treatment in the pamphlet is the double-edged nature of the two amnesties for illegal entrants which have been used to gather more information. Many who came forward were told they did not qualify and were deported.

The second part of the first section outlines police unwillingness to afford protection, refusal to recognise a racial dimension to attacks, delay in responding to appeals for help, unwillingness to investigate and prosecute attackers, hostility to complainants and treatment of the victim as the aggressor.

It also emphasises the fact that a common practice is to tell blacks who have been attacked that they themselves should seek out the culprits-sometimes with dangerous results.

"Recently New ham case has served to highlight just how dangerous and inappropriate is the advice of police who advocate that victims of attacks should catch the culprits or take out a private summons, "An Asian family was repeatedly abused and attacked. The police said that they could do nothing without evidence as to the perpetrators of the attacks.

"On October 22 1978 the father, Mr A., managed to catch one of the boys red-handed, as the police had suggested. His wife then phoned for them. But before they arrived the father of the boy approached Mr A's house with a knife and a dog, broke down the front door and abused the family.

•When the police arrived they accepted the white man's version (ignoring who had in fact summoned them and the obvious damage to the house) that this boy, a minor, had been assaulted by Mr A. without any provocation.

"The Asian was arrested and charged. A week later he was badly beaten up on his own doorstep by white neighbours.

"Although he recognised one of the attackers, the police were unwilling to prosecute, claiming that the attack was merely a domestic dispute between neighbours and therefore a private summons was more appropriate."

Arbitrary The second section deals with police powers and the black individual in which further examples are given of arbitrary arrest, violence on arrest, treatment of Immigration have been powers of a juveniles and schoolchildren, witnesses and bystanders, the practice of repeated arrest and the harassment of black families at home and on their business premises.

An important part of this section is given over to the 'sus' laws and the use of the 1971 Immigration Act.

Under Section 4 of the 1824 Vagrancy Act anyone can be arrested suspicion' of loitering with intent to commit an arrestable offence.

PHOTO: Andrew Wiard, Report the 1971 Act the given extra Test and detenPicket of Camberwell Magistrates Court in support of Kim Gordon, black militant victimised by police for his anti-fascist work in South East London this was gistrate's se of the

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to ack PHOTO: John Smith, IFL Anti-NF picket in Bolton Keith White reviews ›lice Against Black ople, evidence subitted to the Royal ›mmission on iminal Procedure by e Institute of Race lations. Race and ass pamphlet number price 95p, published ' the Institute of Race lations.

The important thing out both of these is that : onus is on the suspect to ›ve his innocence, or his ht of residency. A black "Son automatically ¡der suspicion':

It is virtually impossible get round a 'sus' charge. , for example, "Out of 34 s' cases dealt with by Itham Forest Community lations Council between luary 1977 and October 78 only one example of acquittal was known"Rees because of the special knowarea which led rowledge that observation of the accused was impossible from the position stated by the Action taken under the Immigration Act often arises out of incidents which are nothing to do with illegal entrance.

'In 1978 KS, an Asian and a member of a local anti-racist group was assaulted by an NF member while on a demonstration. He was arrested and detained by police for six hours as a suspected illegal immigrant: He claimed he was subsequently summoned to the Home Office to explain why he had been on a political demonstration. Ultimately he was fined £25 for obstruction" (p.43).

Flouting of rights

Once inside a police station the way is open for even тоге unfettered harassment-the pamphlet details the flouting of the right of juveniles to be interviewed with a parent or responsible adult present, the violence and abuse meted out by the police, the forced confessions...

For example " 19 year old SK who 'confessed at Ealing police station to stealing £50. Later the money was found by the man's employer, he had banked it. »; the fabricated evidence, 'In a recent West End 'sus' case, police who claimed to have kept two boys under observation for 20 minutes were proved liars by the times shown on the boys' clocking out cards".

Black people are also the victims of police assumptions about character.

'Mrs LA aged 47 was treated by the police who found her collapsed on a bus and assumed her to be drunk or drugged. She was shut in a cell for two hours before a doctor attended her; he diagnosed a brain haemorrage.

Identification

Finger-printing and photographing under pressure with no control over the destruction of this information, lengthy detention before charging and misidentification are other questions dealt with in this section.

Identification is, of course, widely open to abuse but for black people the dangers are greater. Ah experiment in Bristol showed that even police with considerable experience of work in black areas were twice as likely to misidentify black people as white. • However, there are also many examples of what are 3 Angant 197 soes Cambrorwel **: 2092 s.zi. Colibrveli Croon, Blanch 30am stop this clearly conscious attempts to secure convictions through making identification easier.

•.. in Glasgow in 1977 a black school student was found guilty of rape. He had taken part in an identity parade in which he was the only black present." (p.56).

Throughout the pamphlet examples are given of how extra charges are often added by the police in particular casesoften these charges arise out of the way in which the police go about dealing with black people. There is also a tendency to exaggerate the offence (and thus increase the seriousness • of the charge) or to bring frivolous charges (e.g. virtually anything including a comb can be an "offensive weapon").

• Charges of 'rioting' were brought in the Mangrove case to intensify what was a political attack on the black community:

The pamphlet also notes the trend towards use of conspiracy charges which are easier to 'prove' and can ARE HEI 11 ma Wolverhampton demonstra carry a heavier sentence.

Examples are also given of convictions gained on ludicrous evidence including one where the supposed subject of the robbery denied having been robbed and refused to testify.

It is also clear that black people in particular suffer at the remand stage of their cases.

Police recommendations on bail conditions carry much weight with magistrates.

The police have used bail to bribe' black people to agree to finger-printing or to make a 'voluntary' statement. 'In a recent 'sus' case a defendant, of good character and background was remanded in custody for three weeks before being granted bail".

Even when bail is granted g.al Lewishoms no MORE there is a clear tendency for heavier conditions to be imposed on black than on white youth involved in similar situations.

The pamphlet charges the police with using remand to allow time for police-inflicted injuries to heal and for more intensive harassment of defendants.

The final section deals with Police Accountability.

At present the only element of accountability is the Community Liaison Officer. The pamphlet gives evidence that the police regard their own CLO's with cynicism-attempting little co-operation with community liaison organisations supposedly set up • to improve relations with the black communities.

The police authorities also make it clear that the political/racial views of police officers are not relevant as far as they are concerned.

The evidence gathered in the pamphlet leans heavily PEOPLE RE TO SGERY IOT STOP RATED, STON ition against NF and the police on quoted sources and page 68 has a selected bibliography of useful publications. It is, however, a limited list and more could have been added thus expanding the usefulness of the publication.

It should also be said that the impact suffers somewhat from the format in which the evidence is presented.

While it is perhaps inevitable that an attempt to cover such detail in the space of 68 pages results in a certain bittiness the overall effect could perhaps have been strengthened by taking one case, presenting all its details and systematically listing the points it illustrates.

This could have been done as an app indix.

However, in general the pamphlet is an extremely useful weapon for those wishing to find the collected evidence of police harassment of black people.

"Shortcomings"

The problems arise when the IRR tries to put forward ways of dealing with what it evidently sees as the shortcomings of the police.

We will deal with each set of recommendations in turn. First those on page 18:

"(i) Having looked at the evidence of SPG activities over the past five years, our conclusion is that their employment in areas where there is a large black population is highly provocative and counter-productive to their alleged aims (to reduce crimes) and that they should, at least, cease to operate in these areas, at best be altogether disbanded".

Despite the fact that the pamphlet notes the use of the SPG on demonstrations and in industrial disputes the relationship between this and its use against black people is not understood-resulting in proposals that it keeps out of the black communities or is 'at best' disbanded.

When Socialist Press calls for the disbanding of the SPG we do so not only in the knowledge that it is the spearhead of attacks by the state on the black community and the working class in general but also that the call for its disbanding must be the first step in the fight to disband the police force altogether.

"(2) The policy of 'firebrigading' (a strategy whereby most officers patrol in cars backed by a central mobile reserve so that any trouble spot can be dealt with quickly and in force) should be reversed or at least employed far more judiciously and selectively and a return made to foot patrolling on the beat,"

Again the whole direction of this is to ask the police to be softer.

It is recommendations (3) and (4) that show the totally reformist nature of the recommendations.

"The powers of arrest and detention given to the police and immigration officers under the Immigration Act 1971 should be repealed" and "The Illegal Immigration Intelligence Unit should be disbanded."

The drive by the police and racist groups against black people cannot be fought by tinkering with immigration laws. While a question mark hangs over the right of any section of the population to be here there will be plenty of excuses for continuing harassment.

The only attitude that should be taken to the Immigration Act 1971 is that it should be repealed as a whole.

On page 29 the IRR return to the theme of improving the police. Instead of calling for racial violence to be treated as a category of crime as the IRR does there should be a serious campaign for the ending of racial violence through the formation of defence squads.

SUS Instead of asking the police to be more responsive anti-racists who use this pamphlet should argue for labour movement/black community-organised centres where help can be quickly gained against racist attacks.

On page 44 the IRR puts forward two demands which make the rights of the individual more clear-the distribution of rights on arrest cards by the Home Office and the demand that search warrants should be under statutory control and obtainable from a magistrate only.

The demand for partial repeal of the Immigration Act is repeated but there is also the important demand for the abolition of Section 4 of the 1824 Vagrancy Act.

On page 57 there are ten recommendations on changes in police practice at police stations.

These include giving the Judges Rules the force of law, making verbal admissions alone insufficient bases for the bringing of cases to court, presence of a solicitor when any statutory right to medical statement is examination, immediate contact with parents or guardians or juveniles held in custody, discontinuing of identification parades, 'dock identification' and 'confrontation' procedures.*.

It is also suggested that 'specially appointed panels should do spot checks on police stations to ensure these procedures are being kept.to.

Control of police abuses must start from the independent organisation of the labour movement and black communities-not from vague notions of 'independent' bodies.

The dead-end of the reformist approach to the police is shown by the demand that fingerprints should be destroyed if charges are not brought or lesser charges are.

While we can demand that no files of this sort are kept there is no way of making sure they aren't. We have to point to the files of the police but recognise that even if it were announced they ne they would not have been. they had been destroyed capitalist state requires these files and it will keep them until the state itself is destroyed.

On page 64 there is further confusion with the demand that charging be taken out of the hands of the police-who should charge people is left open.

Two correct demands here are the abolition of the use of general charges such as 'conspiracy' and riot' and that cases brought on uncorroborated evidence of two police officers alone should be dismissed.

The final recommendations on page 68 call for the abolition of police structures improve police/black relations and for police training 'and education to include materials on racism and the black experience in Britain.

Here we can see graphically the dead end into which the IRR wishes to turn anti-racists.

Some of the procedures suggested in the pamphlet are useful but the main thrust is towards police self-reform. The real answer to police racism is the independent mobilisation of the labour movement alongside the black community to fight the sort of cases listed in the pamphlet.

The answer to racism is workers self defence, the abolition of immigration controls and the fight for a socialist programnie.

The evidence in this pamphlet will aid that fight -the recommendations will harm it. Buy this pamphlet, use it but don't be taken in by the recommendations.

Scan page 8

Socialist Press talks to Joe Beckles, Secretary of the St. Mary's Hospital Defence Committee and of St. Mary's Hospital Transport and General Workers Union Branch. PHOTO: Angela Phillips, IFL CUT5! Inside the EGA occupation CEN have to continue to fight just as we have fought before.

The situation can only change for the worse. The present Labour government has created the present situation and the Tories promise to continue it.

Fi have not heard of any platform saying public expenditure on the NHS will be increased.

What advice on voting would you give to other hospital workers?

As a socialist I can only call for the return of a Labour government in this situation, *but not for the return ot Callaghan, Healey and so on. :: We must vote to put a Labour government in power with a new leadership.

Battle plans are being drawn, of course, in anticipation of a Tory government, because the Tories threaten to further shackle the unions and intensify the use of the state to stop the resistance of workers fighting cuts, low pay, unemployment.

Arthur Latham has given the hospital: campaign verbal

----- pull-quotes -----

NEVE STA TINF THU:

WILL NOT *ICHT RACISM BE TOLE STOP JOLENCE

FOLKE VIOLE