Police admit race prejudice
Socialist Organiser1981 1981-09-17Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 2 →
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THE police are prejudiced against West Indian youths. That's official: and they're proud of it. • Detective Duperintendent Dick Holland is deputy CID head for West Yorkshire [which includes Bradford]. He told a seminar last weekend that 'searching West Indian youths wearing jeans and T-shirts, and who were hanging around pedestrian precincts and subways, often turned up handbag snatchers and muggers.' •Searches of long-haired, unshaven youths carrying a pack and sleeping bag or blanket' , he also claimed, 'were the ones most likely to reveal the possession of cannabis' 'That is the sort of discrimination and prejudice we want from officers' ', he concluded.
The Police Federation backed up Holland, who also complained about mild recommendations from the recent Royal Commission on tightening up for authorisations for searches, roadblocks and secret surveillance.
'Many hours of patient police work go into surreptitious surveillance — particularly by specialised police squads _ and the result then goes in to the intelligence system to be used at a future date.' What's clearest of all is that Holland and his colleagues will continue doing secret surveillance and picking on West Indian youths, whatever Royal Commissions recommend or the law says.
It's time we got organised to expose and oppose them.
MARTIN THOMAS