There is a small shift in the wind, or so the numbers suggest. The proportion of stop and searches for white individuals has jumped from 60% to 69%, while those for Black and Asian communities have seen a decrease. Yet, this statistic might mask the absolute realities—the total number of Black and Asian individuals stopped and searched may not have decreased at all, hinting at a broadened net of scrutiny rather than a fair redistribution of focus.
Arrests by Ethnicity: A Skewed Scale
In the fiscal year 2022/23, white individuals accounted for 78% of all arrests. Black and Asian communities, making up significantly smaller proportions of the population, were each responsible for 8% of arrests.
This disproportionality not only defies all logic but also demonstrates the entrenched systemic bias and racial profiling entrenched within policing practices.
Reading sections of the British media and listening to some politicians and social media influencers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Black and Asian people commit the vast majority of crime in the UK.
If you’re a Black or Asian child living in London, the Mets already have a target on your back. The Road Ahead: Calls for Reform
This systemic racism, a blight on the UK's criminal justice system, demands urgent, sweeping reforms.
We will not tolerate the routine ideological denials and the gutless, cynical political manoeuvrings of the
Commissioner of the Met and this hapless Government. We need a policing system that eradicates racial profiling, fosters meaningful community engagement, and guarantees equitable treatment for all, irrespective of ethnicity or background. Conclusion: A Call to Arms The disproportionate arrest rates of Black and Asian youth in the UK are not just statistics; they're a grim testament to the systemic failures and biases of a policing system in dire need of overhaul.
That why we need radical systemic, legaslitive and constitutional change if we are to guarantee that the next generation have this yoke lifted, and are not sucked into an style Amerciansied future, of urban decay, armed police, wholsealse sytsmic racism. There is a reason the Governemt is building 20,000 new jail cells.
These shocking figures will, no doubt, be routinely ignored by many in the media and countless numbers of worthless politicians – all hooked on the toxic and contagious social disease of racism - the political metaphorical equivalent of “crack cocaine” and just as addictive.
Black and Asian Youth in the Crossfire
Perhaps the most damning statistic of all is that 69% of children arrested in London belong to Black, Asian or mixed-ethnicity youth. This figure stands in sharp contrast to their demographic representation in the capital, underscoring the reality of a culture of racial profiling that is subject all to the devastating consequences of a culture of apartheid-style policing and Jim Crow justice.
Perhaps the most damning statistic of all is that 69% of children arrested in London belong to Black, Asian or mixed-ethnicity youth. This figure stands in sharp contrast to their demographic representation in the capital, underscoring the reality of a culture of racial profiling that is subject all to the devastating consequences of a culture of apartheid-style policing and Jim Crow justice.
When juxtaposed with the broader landscape of England and Wales, where Blacks and Asians account for 56% of London's arrests compared to a mere 17% in other regions, the data speaks volumes about the Met's racially targeted policing strategies employed in the capital.
The data presented in the Statistics on Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System 2022 report indicates not merely the scandalous depth of this problem but reinforces a national clarion call for immediate action. The new generation of Black and Asian Londoners demand radical anti-racist action on policing.
Commissioner of the Met and this hapless Government. We need a policing system that eradicates racial profiling, fosters meaningful community engagement, and guarantees equitable treatment for all, irrespective of ethnicity or background. Conclusion: A Call to Arms The disproportionate arrest rates of Black and Asian youth in the UK are not just statistics; they're a grim testament to the systemic failures and biases of a policing system in dire need of overhaul.
As we digest these numbers, let's not lose sight of the individuals behind them—youth whose potential
and futures are being obliterated and compromised by an apartheid-style policing and criminal justice system.
That's why the APA is committed to working with Black communities across the UK to develop a 21st Black Policing Charter that consults with and asks UK Black communities for the first time: What do you want from policing? The time for change is now; anything less is a disservice to the principles of justice and equity this country claims to uphold. It is vital the next generation of young leaders are equipped with the tools to rake this battle forward.
It is immense personal sorrow for me that my generation didn't complete the mission. we may have pushed things forward, but without constant vigeleince, as we have seen with the demise of the Stephen Larence Report, the system has the inate capacity to absorb pressure, sometime waiting years until inevetiabley, the heat dies down and then the institutions snaps back to its default setting of systemic racism and business as usual.
Each one of these prison cells could have your child name already on the door if thyve been excluded from school. The government calculates the number of prison cells it will need by assessing the nomber of school exclusions. This the School to Prison pipeline. Such is the correlation between school exclusions and rates of imprisonment. 
The consequences of failure to begin the processes of addressing these issues do not bear thinking about, but make no mistake, they are well understood. We are two years away from the 1985 Brixton and Tottenham. Uprisings erupted in response to the Met police shooting of Cherry Groce in Brixton. With frustrations at boiling point, with people being patronised, marginalised and criminalised in equal measure and with a political class that is long on rhetoric and short results when it comes to acknowledgeing the reality of systemic racism in policing, the capital is a ry as bone tinder box; it only will take one summer spark to ignite.
We know all too well the savage costs that are extracted post any uprisings, a terrible price is paid in terms of the human and economic cost to our community. Lucicirous sentencing, dracononian laws introduced , entirecommunities demonised by the media.
There ae some in our community who argue that a 'riot' is good for the police and the government and through wilfully igniarance and neglect they're wiling to let things rip, if this serves their wider political purpose.
This why it is vital that all, do we do all we can now to avoid a repeat of tragic history. We’re ringing the alarm. Let's hope that not everybody’s tone deaf otherwise its dejua vu. Its a sad but inevitable truth that when it comes to tackling systemic police racism, a city that refuses to learn will inevitably burn.
Date for your dary the APA Polocing and the Black Child Confrence will be held on 18th May 2024 at Univeristy of East London, Starfford. Details to be announce soon. Follow @apavoices on X Email: APAInfo@protonmail.com
