10th April 2005

Racism is 'rife' across Scottish police forces

Racism is widespread in the Scottish police service and is a major barrier to the progress of black and Asian officers, a Sunday Herald investigation has revealed.

Four years after Strathclyde Police was branded "institutionally racist" over its handling of the murder of waiter Surjit Singh Chhokar, minority ethnic officers have said that racism is alive and well across all eight of Scotland's forces.

For the first time, in a series of interviews, black and minority ethnic (BME) officers serving across Scotland have revealed shocking instances of overt and institutional racism. Examples include those in senior ranks racially abusing BME officers and openly calling them "Pakis", while several white officers were promised promotion if they "got rid" of an Asian officer on their team.

The Sunday Herald can also reveal there are a number of ongoing investigations in several forces for alleged racist behaviour. Last year, an officer was fined £5000 for using racist language. Among the complaints raised by BME officers was the unwillingness among middle-management to investigate acts of racism. When complaints were made, they claimed that perpetrators often received little or no punishment or the complainants were themselves transferred from their division.

The BME officers also said that, despite scrutiny brought about by the high-profile murders of Stephen Lawrence and Surjit Chhokar and the BBC's Secret Policemen documentary, resistance to promoting non-whites in the police was still "the reality".

One officer said: "Although there has been a change of attitude at the very top, as far as the middle-management is concerned, attitudes are totally frozen. Promotions will come from their recommendation, but they don't support change because they feel threatened. If they recommend a non-white officer, they are the focus of a backlash from their colleagues who will say, 'There you go, promoting the black guy'."

Another said: "The service has almost got to the level where we are now holding people down because of the perceived backlash of white officers, who will say he was promoted because he is black. The easy thing to do is just to keep them where they are. We've got him in so it's not a problem, we've ticked the box."

The disclosures come a week after a Sunday Herald investigation revealed that, from a total force strength of 15,963 officers, only 118 were recorded as being black or Asian. They also come at a particularly embarrassing time for the Scottish Executive, which is awaiting the outcome of an independent review of Scottish policing , due in the summer .

In Scotland, BME officers said racism had become more "subversive" and "covert".

One said: "Maybe they won't run to your assistance when they hear you shouting on the radio, maybe they'll hang back and leave you to be hit a few more times."

Every BME officer claimed that race was a barrier to progression and believed the Scottish police service was still "in the 1960s" in terms of its willingness to deal with racism in the force. The findings follow comments by Robin Iffla, a sergeant with Central Scotland Police and chair of Semper Scotland, a support group for non-white officers, that the time is right for an "open and honest discussion" about using positive discrimination to attract more BME officers to the police.

He described the findings by the Sunday Herald as "shocking", but added: "This reflects the reality of what BME officers in Scotland's police force face on a daily basis. Even today, how you are treated in the service is dependent on the colour of your skin."

Ali Jarvis, interim director of CRE Scotland, said the findings "reinforce our own evidence that racism persists within the Scottish police service."

A statement from Paddy Tomkins, the chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police and a member of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos), said: "Our ultimate goal is to be among the leaders in equality practices in Scotland and to be an employer of choice."

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said it was "co-operating fully" with the independent review of policing and race relations in Scotland.

The Herald