Policing Race and Terrorism in the UK: Closing the Racial Justice Gap. ACES Cases No 2005.2

Lusane, Clarence. (2005) Policing Race and Terrorism in the UK: Closing the Racial Justice Gap. ACES Cases No 2005.2.

Abstract

In 2003, a British journalist working for the BBC went undercover to investigate racism among the police. He applied and was accepted at the police academy where he received training, finished the course, and even served on the street briefly as a police constable. He secretly filmed and recorded discussions (excerpted above) with many of his fellow trainees and documented the racist statements and views that some held, positions that are grounds for immediate dismissals under police services’ rules. Three of the officers were suspended and five resigned. Though sensationalized as is often the case with British documentaries, the program found a deep resonance among the UK’s Black and Asian communities who have long argued that they suffer disproportionate abuse and discrimination at the hands of the British police and the criminal justice system (CJS) in general.