Disproportionality in the criminal justice system laid bare in new report

The urgent need to address racial disparities across the criminal justice system in Avon and Somerset has been highlighted in a major new report.

Stop & search, youth justice, out of court disposals, prisons and the judiciary are covered in the 83 recommendations set out by Desmond Brown, who has chaired the review for the force area.

The culmination of more than four years of work, the report comes in the wake of the 2017 Lammy Review, which painted a stark national picture of disproportionality in the treatment and outcomes for people of different ethnicities.

It is designed to be a catalyst to proactively address existing issues employing the Lammy ‘explain or reform’ principles.

On the publication of the report, Brown said some of the recommendations are already being acted on but warned there is a lot of work still to do across the region.

“One of the things that has alarmed me the most is the data available,” the chair of the Lammy Group review told Bristol24/7.

”It was really disappointing that five years on from Lammy, we are still struggling with data. That suggests to me that people are not really taking disproportionality seriously.”

Brown said to effectively address racial disparities and implement positive change, the work also needs to be properly resourced.

”The data screams for itself, ” he added. ”Lived experiences are key – qualitative and quantitative data needs to be collated together and we need to believe people’s stories.”

The report was compiled by members of the Avon & Somerset Lammy Review sub-group, chaired by Brown, which was set up in February 2018.

The focus was to bring together local criminal justice system partners to look at the overall systemic effect of producing differential outcomes for the various ethnic groups within the criminal justice system in the region.

The document refers to the disparities experienced by people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds while acknowledging that no single term can encompass all lived experiences of all people.

It sets out racial disproportionality in those targeted by police for stop & search, school exclusions, out of court disposals – which refers to a range of options available to police to use in certain cases as an alternative to prosecution – and a lack of diversity in the force, among other things.

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Read more: A leap of faith to break the cycle of criminality 

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Maya Mate-Kole, of Golden Key and Bristol’s Commission on Race Equality, led on the youth justice side of the report.

“The level of disproportionality experienced by Black and minoritised young people throughout the criminal justice system, from initial contact with police (i.e. stop and search), court outcomes, experiences of custody all the way through to reoffending is of significant concern and clearly requires a proactive and a strategic approach to address,” said Mate-Kole in her conclusion.

“This reiterates the need for further exploration and investment and more diverse data collection processes including case studies, youth voice and community-generated data.

“The urgency of addressing these issues and implementing recommendations cannot be minimised, we cannot lose sight of the fact that each day Black and minoritised young people are being lost to the criminal justice system, failed by institutions resulting in an immeasurable cost to families and the wider community.”

Former Avon & Somerset chief constable Andy Marsh said he hopes the report will inform and accelerate that change – photo: Ellie Pipe

In the foreword for the report Andy Marsh, the chief executive officer at the College of Policing, acknowledged the need for Black communities to feel appropriately protected, respected, involved and represented within policing, as well as the broader criminal justice system.

“We know that this needs to be addressed if we are to see an improvement in the significant trust deficit that exists between black communities and the police forces who serve them,” said Marsh, the former chief constable of Avon and Somerset police.

“The agencies must take responsibility for the findings of this report, but improvements will be quicker and more meaningful if they are made in partnership with the black communities.

“Transparency and openness in itself can be an antidote to mistrust but insufficient unless it is also be backed up with meaningful change and reform. My hope is that this report will inform and accelerate that change.”

Read the full report: www.avonandsomerset-pcc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Identifying-Disproportionality-Report.pdf

Main photo: Ellie Pipe

Read more: School exclusions: The young people at risk of slipping through the cracks 

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