Ok I may be biased (as a former CID officer) or maybe better informed In UK the police have increasingly been aware that they are very likely to be accused of being racist. In real terms that has meant they fall over backwards to give assistance to those who might make such allegations as of course unfounded allegations result in police time being wasted. In general that means ethnic minorities are likely to get better attention from the limited police resources than the indigenous community. In Spain to make a false allegation against the police is a serious matter, in UK it is worth a try as there might be some compensation available from the public purse (that’s your money and mine). In UK to say on TV that the police were lazy and failed to take action without having to disclosing any evidence to substantiate it, is par for the course. The police rarely reply so the public are left believing whatever unfounded claims might be made. OK rant over.
I think it's fair to say that 90% of police resources are spent dealing with the problems caused by 10% of the population, from whatever origin. The majority of people in Britain are settled and fairly secure, no matter what the Daily Mail would have us believe. These people know not to take chances and thus follow a steady course. A certain minority take a different course, whether it be caused by wanting to take a short cut to financial security, different cultural interpretations of acceptable social behaviour or by their upbringing. By definition, these people are from the lower socio-economic groups, and will more likely include recent arrivals to the country, most of whom are not white northern Europeans. Aware of the potential or propensity for lawbreaking, any wise policing would focus more of their resources onto these groups, trusting that in the meantime, an outbreak of nihilism isn't about to break out among those more secure. Clearly this would engender a feeling of being harassed within the targeted population, and they would naturally question why this is the case. As Balotelli stated on his T-shirt, "Why Always Me?" Race/creed/nationality is the simplest response to the question, and feelings of being victimised due to being 'different' because one belongs to any one of those classifications will naturally spring forth. Respect among these communities for the Police naturally drops as a consequence, and by extension, the willingness to stay within the law reduces. Respect for other members of the community falls away, and compliance with the rules of socially acceptable behaviour becomes less important. It's therefore wise and prudent of the Police authorities to practice non-discriminatory protocols, even to the point of exaggeration so that accusations and subsequent flare-ups can be kept to an absolute minimum. Consequently, members of these social and economic strata of society are, (converse to the opinion of those members) treated with more leniency than others. Discrimination in policing exists, but not in the way that they see it.
Purely anecdotal, not many facts here. It is widely accepted that black people suffer disproportionately in the policing system. A good friend of mine has been stopped by the police for searches, car checks etc 2-3 times a year. I've never been stopped. Again, this is anecdotal and proves nothing.
I remember in the 60’s early 70’s a police Commander of a South London police division got so fed up with being criticised for officers stopping so many black youths that he released the figures for muggings. From memory it was that 95% of all muggings were committed by young black men on old white women, 2 % were by white kids and 3% were unknown. The commander was reprimanded for releasing the figures, albeit that they were factual, and officers were ‘advised’ they should stop white youths, even when there was no reason to suspect they were muggers, so as to appear fair ! When I was on the company fraud department in the 1970’s I never suspected a black man of being responsible such frauds. At that time black men did not figure prominently in the senior white collar management positions in companies. I never heard of white or asian, white collar employees complaining that the police were being unfair to them. Concentrating police resources on the section of the population which are proved by statistics to those who commit particular crimes would seem to be the cost effective way of policing. Of course UK has lost the plot. I understand the security staff at airports can only choose to stop a complete queue and search everyone when they are looking for possible terrorists, so babies get searched as a thoroughly as those who might actually fit terrorist profiles. That would appear to ‘simple me’ as blatantly stupid. So glad I live in Spain where racism is almost non-existent but at the same time no one is frightened to tell it how it is. Bluebird, Hi. This is not anecdotal:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_Kingdom black people accounted for 46 percent of car-crime arrests generated by automatic number plate recognition cameras. 'Maybe white men programme the automatic cameras and that explains it' or maybe black men commit more of this type of crime and is why black men are more likely to stopped !
Thank you for an intervention of common sense though it will be dismissed as anecdotal by the (non-policing) PC brigade.
I'm glad he has been stopped 2-3 times a year, it tells me the police are doing their job as black people are more likely to be involved in car crime as our police friend has stated.
I think the police are now required to do their job with 'hands behind their back' . So-called 'punishments' for the criminal classes.... and just plain disrespectful little scumbags, seem to be pitifully weak or non-existent. Also, an excess of paperwork tying up officers who should be walking about keeping an eye on things. Employ some clerks ! My brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew and my son's best friend are all police officers, so I do get regular feedback from some pretty frustrated and fed-up cops. Racism... well that depends upon the individual officer, his upbringing and experience on the job, and in life.
In the 1960's when I was junior officer I had several black friends. They said that whenever they were stopped, usually for driving offences they always claimed the police were being racist. They said almost always they were then let off, even though they had committed the offence and the police had treated them correctly.
If the police stop only black drivers, 100% of car crime will be committed by black people. Simple mathematics.
Well young man if its statistically proven that black people are responsible for the majority of car crime then more black people should be stopped, simple mathematics really
Ooooh, you've substituted the word "Liberal" with "PC". Thanks to JohnCar for his response, unlike others in this forum he has articulated a response to my points without a) resorting to sarcasm b) being patronising c) with facts to back up his argument. The only thing is, his facts go against his OP in which he claimed that the police fall over backwards to provide assistance and get better attention from limited resources. If the police were applying "reverse-racism" - then surely that 46% figure would be much lower?
I don't know if you do it deliberately, but you miss my point completely. Let me illustrate:- The police stop 20,000 blacks in a month. Of which 450 are found to be committing a car crime. The police stop 4,000 whites in a month, of which 270 are found to be committing a car crime. The statistics show that blacks are 2/3rds more likely to commit a car crime than white people. However, the statistics also show that, of the people stopped (24,000), 720 were committing a crime (3% of overall population). But, 270 out of 4,000 whites were found committing a car crime (6.75%) compared to just 2.25% of the blacks that were stopped. The above are not true figures, but they show how statistics can be tailored to prove whatever you need them to prove.
My quote was " black people accounted for 46 percent of car-crime arrests generated by automatic number plate recognition cameras." Please note that was a result from automated number plate recognition, not police stops.
I agree, statistics can be tailored especially if an illustration is based on "not true figures". If you add in the fact that 87.2% of the UK population is in the white ethnic group then based upon the supposedly true figures provided above for automated number plate recognition cameras you can improve the accuracy of your illustration:- The police stop 20,000 blacks in a month. Of which 450 are found to be committing a car crime. The police stop 4,000 whites in a month, of which 15.5 are found to be committing a car crime. * Note that I am speaking purely statistically, based on the available data, and making the admittedly false assumption that being black is the same as not being "white ethnic". The figure of 15.5 is based on the other figure of 450 which I assume to have been selected as a random number.
JohnCar54 said: So glad I live in Spain where racism is almost non-existent but at the same time no one is frightened to tell it how it is. Is this the same Spain where I live? The country that still dress up like something from the Black and White minstrel show every Three Kings? Is this the same country where referring to someone as Un Moro (a Moor) is what you would do if you wanted to call someone an idiot? Is this the same country that hooted 'monkey noises' at black English footballers during a friendly match in 2004, at Papa Diop in 2014, and fans who threw bananas at Dani Alves in the same year? The same countrymen who 'blacked up' to mock Lewis Hamilton? Where Luis Aragones referred to Thierry Henry as a "negro de mierda"?
The Three Kings is a traditional celebration, the same way as "Black Peter" is the traditional helper of St Nicholas in the Netherlands and related countries, traditional not racist. To my mind too many people use the "racist" slur for political reasons, point scoring, and pettiness, rather than to meaningly further racial well being and equality.
What John seemingly referred to in his first post is the institutionalised political correctness in the UK which means that the police are hindered in their duty for fear of false racial accusations, something which he feels is not such a problem in Spain.
