In light of racially disproportionate stop and search practices, the case of Child Q and other accusations of misconduct, police in England and Wales are under pressure to address racism in their ranks. But their plan to do this through changes such as mandatory anti-racism training for all officers refuses to accept that the service itself is institutionally racist.
This is not just semantics. Barrister Abimbola Johnson, chair of an independent board overseeing police plans for race equality, advised that police forces must publicly accept that the label of institutional racism still applies. Without this admission, any promised reforms risk being dismissed by Black communities with low levels of trust in the police.
