Harrow People Say Police Racist (my first ever voxpop story)

Yesterday afternoon in the streets of Harrow, people’s opinions mostly supported the claim of The Metropolitan Police being racist, after a recent scandal breaking out about institutional racism within the police force. The problem seems not only to exist within the police, but also in the contact between civilians of ethnic minorities and the police.

Remigius, a 33-year-old student from Tanzania said he hasn’t had any experiences with the racist policemen, but his friends have. “Blacks are more likely to be randomly stopped and searched. If it’s random, let it be random,” he says. He commented on those searches, which have become more frequent lately: “I suspect that a lot of what they’re searching for goes through different channels [that] they think are safe.”

Mary Hale, 79, from Harrow, finds the question hard to answer, but she has not noticed any racism from the police. “I respect the police, they are the ones to turn to for help.” On young black men being randomly searched often, she comments: “But young black males do get in trouble, so stopping them more often is justified.”

Dillon, 24, a devoted Muslim, thinks racism is both institutional and civilian-based. He said the top end of the police hierarchy is racist: “They’re of certain backgrounds, drive certain cars, and went to certain schools. I would never join the police force, look what happened to Tarique Ghaffur.” He adds: “The only way it would change is when politicians change.”

Recently there has been much public talk about racial issues within the Metropolitan Police, and also towards civilians. Dillon from Harrow brought up the topic of a Pakistani police officer not getting promoted because of his ethnicity, proves there is racism within the institution. Fran, 18-year-old student from Cambridge comments also on more elaborate forms of discrimination: “There probably is racism, but I can’t bring any examples. The closest I could get is tattooed people being looked at suspiciously.”

There is a lot of discrimination and injustice to fight within the Metropolitan Police, and the whole society. The clash has gone even so far that the National Black Police Association is considering publicly discouraging people of ethnic minorities joining the police, because they would not be treated fairly.Lela, a 56-year-old Hindu, and Sadia, a 45-year-old Muslim, from Harrow agree: “No matter what you say, racism exists.”