Two-thirds of BAME people feel police forces are biased against them, study finds

Police chiefs said they are working to address racial inequality after a study found that two-thirds of black and minority ethnic people felt forces are biased against them.

Four out of five respondents of black and Bangladeshi heritage felt this way, compared with about half of those of Chinese and Indian backgrounds.

The research suggests the majority do not believe the issues are systemic, with most agreeing that any issues were down to a few individual officers.

The charity Hope Not Hate surveyed about 1,000 adults in Britain last month in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in the US and anti-racism protests in the UK.

Labour MP Dawn Butler, Team GB athlete Bianca Williams and Met inspector Charles Ehikioya, who were all stopped in their cars by police in London, have recently accused officers of “racial profiling”.

According to the report, some 64 per cent of ethnic minorities agreed that the police as a whole were good. Black communities were slightly lower on 58 per cent, but still a majority.

Three quarters of black people, 71 per cent of Bangladeshis and half of Indian respondents felt they are dealt with more severely in the courts.

Detective Inspector Andy George, interim president of the National Black Police Association, said the results confirmed its concerns around trust and confidence in UK policing.

He said: “Now is the time to acknowledge the evidence produced in this report and build long-term strategies to increase trust and confidence in BAME communities.”

There was widespread anger in the survey about the Government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and feelings of political alienation.

Labour MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, quoted in the report, said BAME communities, who have been disproportionately affected by the virus, had been treated as “cannon fodder” in the war against coronavirus, adding: “These people’s lives are not, and should not, have been dispensable.”

Half of the BAME respondents said they have witnessed or experienced racist comments being made in public or on social media in the past 12 months.

Almost three-quarters said they support the recent Black Lives Matter protests, but there were fears that they might prompt a backlash from sections of the white population.

An National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman said it had “invested significant time and resources into working out how we can better engage with communities of all backgrounds”, adding: “We will take any action necessary to implement positive changes.”

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