Modern policing benefits from Scarmans legacy
Leslie George Scarman 29/7/1911 8/12/04
Policing has changed radically in the last 20 years and no one can take more credit for these changes than Lord Scarman, who sadly died last Wednesday. Tributes have been paid to him all week, nevertheless Police Professional would like to offer our own, as he did much for the police service of this country and will be remembered with respect by many serving and retired officers.
The Brixton disorders that led to the inquiry chaired by Lord Scarman were some of the worst this country has seen for over a century, and resulted in 299 police officers and 65 civilians injured, 28 premises burned and another 117 damaged and looted, not to mention the 56 police vehicles and 61 private vehicles damaged or destroyed.
Lord Scarman came to the inquiry with experience gained from chairing the tribunal set up to investigate civil disturbances in Northern Ireland in 1969, as well as chairing the inquiries into the Red Lion Square riot in 1974 and the Grunswick dispute in 1977. He quickly gained the confidence of Brixtons Black community as well as the Metropolitan Police Service through his ability to listen, his fairness and firmness as well as his obvious intelligence and integrity. The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Wolfe has been quoted as saying: “He was a lawyer and a judge who had remarkable insight into human nature, and an exceptional sensitivity to the needs of a healthy society.”
In his report Lord Scarman displayed his understanding and sensitivity to the needs of a healthy society by not heaping all of the blame onto the police service. He recognised that police, Government and community leaders must share some of the responsibility and attributed the cause to serious social and economic problems affecting Britains inner cities and, “racial disadvantage that is a fact of British life”. He called for a new emphasis on community policing, improved recruitment of ethnic minorities into the police service and an independent element to the police complaints process. In addition he advised the government to end racial disadvantage and tackle the disproportionately high level of unemployment among
young black men.
Lord Scarman clearly understood the sensitivity of police independence and said: “Consultation does not destroy independence of judgement, it merely informs judgement.” Consequently his criticisms and recommendations were fully accepted by the police service and marked a watershed in community relations.
It is all too easy in these enlightened times to forget the days when police officers were banned from schools and some London Boroughs would have little if anything to do with police. It is a legacy to Lord Scarman that today we enjoy a society that welcomes police officers based in schools (Local Heroes, P16-19).
David Don
Managing Editor