🧑🏽‍⚖️ Ethnicity, Crime and Justice

🚨 Stop and Search

• Ethnic minorities are disproportionately more likely to be stopped and searched by the police.

• Police require “reasonable suspicion” to conduct a stop and search under normal circumstances.

• According to statistics:

  • Black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

  • Asian people are over twice as likely to be stopped and searched than white people.

• Terrorism Act 2000 allows police to stop and search without the need for reasonable suspicion.

  • Asians are more likely than any other group to be stopped under this act.

• Only a small proportion of stop and searches lead to arrest.

• Phillips and Bowling:

  • Ethnic minority communities are more likely to feel over-policed and under-protected.

  • There is a general mistrust of police within these communities.

  • Members of these groups often feel they are treated unfairly or without respect during stops.

Taser Use:

• Between 2010–2014, tasers were deployed 38,000 times.

  • Black people: 18 in every 10,000.

  • White people: 6 in every 10,000.

  • Asian people: 3 in every 10,000.

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🔗 Arrests and Cautions

• In 2014/15, the arrest rate for Black people was three times higher than for whites.

• However, once arrested:

  • Black and Asian individuals were less likely to receive a caution than white people.

• One explanation: Members of ethnic minority groups may be more likely to deny the offence and exercise their right to legal advice, meaning they are less likely to admit guilt, making them ineligible for a caution and more likely to be charged.

⚖ Prosecution and Trial

• The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decides whether to proceed with a case.

  • CPS considers two factors:

    1. Is there a realistic prospect of conviction?

    2. Is prosecution in the public interest?

• Studies show:

  • CPS is more likely to drop cases against ethnic minorities.

• Bowling and Phillips suggest:

  • Police evidence against ethnic minorities is often weaker and influenced by stereotypes of criminality.

• Ethnic minorities are more likely to opt for trial in Crown Court (by jury) rather than in Magistrates’ Court.

  • This may reflect a mistrust of magistrates' impartiality.

  • However, Crown Courts typically issue harsher sentences if convicted.

🧾 Convictions and Sentencing

• Black and Asian defendants are less likely to be found guilty than white defendants.

  • This may suggest that weak or discriminatory cases are being brought against them.

• However, imprisonment rates are higher:

  • Black offenders: 3% higher than white offenders.

  • Asian offenders: 5% higher than white offenders.

• May relate to:

  • Seriousness of offences, or

  • Previous convictions.

• Hood’s study of five Crown Courts found:

  • Even when accounting for seriousness and past convictions:

    • Black men were 5% more likely to receive a custodial sentence.

    • Black men received sentences three months longer than white men.

    • Asian men received sentences nine months longer than white men.

Left Realism

• Lea and Young argue ethnic differences in crime statistics reflect real differences in offending.

• Reasons:

  • Racism in wider society leads to marginalisation and economic exclusion (e.g. unemployment, poverty, poor housing).

  • Media emphasis on consumerism creates relative deprivation for minorities who can’t access material goods legitimately.

• This leads to:

  • Formation of delinquent subcultures, particularly among young, unemployed Black males.

  • Higher levels of utilitarian crime (e.g. theft, robbery).

  • Marginalisation leads to non-utilitarian crime (e.g. violence) due to frustration and lack of political representation.

• Police racism contributes to the over-criminalisation of ethnic minorities.

• However, Lea and Young do not believe police racism fully explains the ethnic differences in statistics:

  • 90% of crime is reported by the public, not discovered by police.

  • Therefore, discriminatory policing alone cannot account for the figures.

• They argue we cannot generalise police racism:

  • Black people are criminalised more than Asians.

  • If racism were the sole cause, police would need to be selectively racist, which is unlikely.

Evaluation of Left Realism:

• Critics argue police may stereotype Black people as dangerous and Asians as passive, which may explain the differences.

• Post-9/11: Asians have increasingly been viewed as dangerous, possibly explaining the rising criminalisation of this group.