Victorian police act against racial bias but say racism is not systemic
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Version 0 of 1. Victoria police has promised a series of reforms to stamp out racial bias when dealing with ethnic minorities but has stopped short of admitting that systemic racism is a problem within the force. A police report, called Equality is Not the Same, has set out a three-year plan to improve the force’s relationship with minority groups, especially in Melbourne’s ethnically diverse west. Policies will be reviewed to “ensure they do not lead to racial profiling”, with recruits given training focusing on “unconscious bias”. There will be reform of the feedback and complaints process, new community advisory groups and a pilot program that will provide receipts to people stopped and searched by police. Work on the report began in February as part of a Victoria police settlement with six African-Australian men who claimed officers had repeatedly targeted them. The men alleged they were racially discriminated against by police in Flemington and north Melbourne between 2005 and 2009. Numerous other claims of police racism have since emerged, with Guardian Australia revealing in August that a new investigation will be held into a raid in which several African-born young people were allegedly racially abused, punched and subdued with capsicum spray. Other people have claimed they have been repeatedly stopped and searched for little or no reason. Ken Lay, Victoria police chief commissioner, said while there was evidence that some officers were guilty of racial profiling, racism was not institutional within the force. "Whilst I'm confident Victoria police as an organisation does not racially profile, I'm equally confident that some of our members have actually engaged in that process,” he said. Lay said he accepted that communities wanted better communication and transparency from police. “They want to be listened to and they want to be understood,” he said. “The key task before us moving forward is to increase public confidence and trust by improving perceptions of legitimacy, procedural justice and fairness.” Maki Issa, one of the six men involved in the racial discrimination case, which has since settled out of court, told Guardian Australia he had mixed feelings about the report. “I certainly don’t think it went far enough – there is no single mention of the word racism in the document, which is a bit disappointing as it needs to be addressed,” he said. “There’s some comfort that the receipt policy made it into there and also the change to the complaints system. But we’ve always believed this was a systemic issue, not just a case of a few bad eggs in uniform. “I think the police commissioner has come a long way from February, when he was saying police officers didn’t partake in any of these practices. We want to see this through for three years and then sit down and see if things have improved.” Anthony Kelly, chief executive of Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre, which has represented several litigants who claim racial bias, told Guardian Australia the report was an important first step to reform. “Despite the implicit acknowledgement of problems of racial discrimination, there is an unfortunate failure to acknowledge and apologise to the community for the racial bias they’ve experienced,” he said. “But, overall, the report addresses important parts of the problem, such as clear accountability mechanisms and stop and search. Also, it’s good to see that recruits will get training at the academy that challenges their implicit biases and looks at how that affects their interactions with people. “All definitions of institutionalised racism point to a systemic problem in Victoria police but this report does recognise the reforms that need to happen.” Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |