By Bethany Rielly Monday – Feb 20, 2023
New report by Inquest disputes government’s claim that there is no evidence more black people die than white people following police contact
Black people are seven times more likely to die following police restraint, according to a new report that disputes government claims on racial disparities for state-related deaths.
The report by charity Inquest, published yesterday, found that racial disproportionality is higher than previously made public.
It says that the system for investigating the potential role of racism in deaths of black people following police restraint—including the police watchdog, inquests, and the Crown Prosecution Service—is not fit for purpose.
This is exemplified by the shocking finding that no officer has ever been found to have acted in a racist or discriminatory way following the death of a black person in custody, the report says.
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In 2021, the government claimed there was no evidence that black people are dying at a higher rate than white people following police contact. But Inquest argues that official figures obscure the true extent of racial disparity, resulting in some of the most contentious deaths being left out.
The report explains that the way custody is defined in Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) figures means that people who died following contact with officers but were not arrested or detained are excluded from “custody” data and put into a different —“other”—category.
“Inquest believes this obscures the overall picture and makes the annual number of deaths in police custody and contact appear lower than the reality,” it says.
One case the report says is missing from official custody data is that of former top-flight footballer Dalian Atkinson, who was killed after an officer fired a Taser gun for 33 seconds at him and kicked him twice in the head.
As Mr Atkinson was never under arrest, his death was placed in the “other” category.
Combining the “other” and “deaths in police custody” data sets, Inquest concludes that: “Black people are seven times more likely to die than white people when restraint was involved.”
The report, titled “I Can’t Breathe,” also accuses the IOPC of failing to robustly investigate racism, and says scrutiny of racial discrimination is too often a tick-box exercise.
Bereaved families told Inquest they felt the IOPC and inquests had not properly challenged the police version of events and raised concerns about its independence from the police.
Inquest director Deborah Coles said: “The evidence is stark. Deeply rooted patterns of systemic racism across police forces and across time are resulting in disproportionate numbers of deaths of black men following the use of restraint.
“Investigation and oversight bodies are failing to examine the potential role of race and racism in deaths involving police. This renders racism invisible in the official narratives and prevents justice, accountability and change.”
An IOPC spokesperson said: “Evidence of disproportionality in the use of police powers has long been a concern which impacts on confidence in policing, particularly in black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.
“That’s why we launched a program of work in 2020 to explore, challenge, and address issues of racial discrimination in policing in order to drive real change in police policies and practice.”
