Race, policing and me: Inclusive leadership in the twenty-first century for the 25th anniversary of Macpherson Report and the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
| Published date | 01 December 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557241298855 |
| Author | Anil (Neil) Kanti Basu |
| Date | 01 December 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Special Issue: 25th Anniversary |
Race, policing and me: Inclusive leadership
in the twenty-first century for the 25th
anniversary of Macpherson Report and the
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
Anil (Neil) Kanti Basu
School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, University of Portsmouth, UK
Abstract
‘Race, policing and me: Inclusive leadership in the twenty-first century’is a participant observer’s experience of policing, pol-
itics and prejudice from a 30-year career in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) that spanned the 1993 racist murder of
Stephen Lawrence, the 1999 Macpherson Report, which labelled policing institutionally racist, and the battle to come to
terms with the fallout that created. A battle this observer believes policing has lost. He reveals how the most senior officer
of colour in the UK for the past decade battled racism as a child, adolescent and young professional before joining a profession
that did not act as it though it wanted people like him. The early successes to improve its diversity after Macpherson were not
sustained and policing now rejects the term and Basu provides some thought for police leaders at how they might tackle issues
of diversity and prejudice to regain their legitimacy with minorities who have been over-policed and/or under-protected for
too long. To ignore this requirement to regain its legitimacy lacks the humility to understand that it is wrong about this debate
on diversity. After the catastrophic loss of trust and confidence following the 2023 Dame Louise Casey Report into culture in
the MPS, policing’s refusal to admit it remains institutionally racist by the Macpherson definition, and indeed institutionally pre-
judiced by the Casey definition, imperils the Peelian concept of policing by consent. If policing cannot accept the moral case for
Diversity, Equality and Inclusion, it should think of the business case that Peel, Rowan and Mayne built that underpins consent.
It may be the only way to maintain order and keep communities safe, which must be its primary mission.
Keywords
Institutional racism, policing, the metropolitan police service, macpherson, Stephen Lawrence
Submitted 7 May 2024, accepted 20 May 2024
I am not appropriating the cause of institutional racism
through the lens of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry. I hope
Black readers will see me as an ally. I am not a brother
because I can never be that, but as a race advisor once
described me, I am a close cousin. I am proud of that. I
am an ally through empathy. I know what this feels like.
People with protected characteristics should empathise
with each other but are often too busy fighting their own
fight to look up and see allies in front of them, sometimes
hiding, but always in plain sight.
My trauma does not compare with what had happened to
the Windrush generation of Black Afro-Caribbeans and their
descendants.Not all Black communities are experiencing the
same level of prejudice either. But we suffer enough to
understand. I empathise and this article explains why.
More than mixed race, I am a cop and spent 30 years in
my beloved Metropolitan Police Service (the ‘Met’), before
retiring to a non-stop barrage of criticism and collapsing
trust and confidence. No one should retire from a profession
they love and hear that. It is scarring. It should not have hap-
pened and wouldn’t if we had paid much closer attention to
Corresponding author:
Anil (Neil) Kanti Basu, School of Criminology & Criminal Justice,
University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
Email: neil.basu@sky.com
Special Issue: 25th Anniversary
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2024, Vol. 26(4) 487–493
© The Author(s) 2024
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/14613557241298855
journals.sagepub.com/home/psm
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
