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CRITICAL: Neville Lawrence

SCOTLAND YARD will not shake off the institutional racist label until it proves otherwise, Neville Lawrence has said.

The father of Stephen Lawrence, who was murdered in a racist attack in Eltham, south London, in 1993, has said that police are continuing to target black young people, the Evening Standard reported.

His statements, which were made during a conference at the London Metropolitan University, which looked at the inquiry into how Stephen’s murder was handled, come after home secretary Sajid Javid granted police greater stop and search powers.

As a result of the increased powers, inspectors at several police services around the country will be able to implement section 60s, which enable officers to carry out blanket stop and searches in particular areas. The authorisation of the controversial policing method is ordinarily made by a more senior officer.

“The name that they were given, institutionally racist, as far as I am concerned, still remains. They will have to work very hard to get rid of that name,” The Evening Standard reported Lawrence said during his appearance at The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 20 Years On.

He added: “They have to get to the stage where people can see that they are no longer institutionally racist, in order to get rid of that name they have to progress.”

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick also attended the event and spoke about the progress that the police have made since Stephen’s murder.

Dick said that the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry had helped improve policing, providing the drive for transformation.

She also said that there must be a “zero tolerance approach towards racism in policing”.

Since the publication of the Macpherson report, the “institutionally racist” label is one that the Met has found difficult to detach itself from.

Campaigners who support the recommendations put forward from the inquiry report, have been vocal about their disappointment in the “minimal” impact that it has made.

Last year, Tola Munro, the president of the National Black Police Association, said: “I think there has been some progress and I’m grateful for the progress and the increasing number of BAME officers, but if I was marking policing, I would give us a C at the moment.

“We, within the NBPA, would argue that at least some forces are institutionally racist.”

Omar Khan of the Runnymede Trust, told The Voice in February: “There is a question mark over how far the recommendations of the Macpherson report have actually been implemented.

“For example, the numbers of black officers has improved but it’s not much better than the population growth.

“You could actually say there’s been almost no progress really since that time.”

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