'Met is not beating racism'

Claims by the Met Commissioner that Scotland Yard is no longer "institutionally racist" have been dismissed by black staff and one of the key figures in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry.

Sir John Stevens yesterday claimed the force has experienced radical change since Sir William Macpherson's public inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence case, when the Met was branded institutionally racist.

He said: "Of course, there will still be one or two racists in the force, and I'm determined to root them out. But we have moved on light years in the past two to three years. Even our most trenchant critics will give us that. We are not institutionally racist."

But Chief Inspector Leroy Logan, chairman of the Met's Black Police Association, said he has yet to notice any fundamental changes.

"As far as we are concerned, many minority groups with the Met - both officers and civilian staff - are still suffering from the backlash which followed the Lawrence Inquiry. A significant number of people continue to complain about mismanagement and bullying. We know of around 30 significant employment tribunal cases in the pipeline. It says to us that they haven't really learnt the lessons of the Lawrence Inquiry."

Mr Logan, who is taking the Met to an employment tribunal after being wrongly accused of dishonesty, said the good intentions of the Met's senior officers often count for nothing on the streets.

"Officers still see the changes they are being asked to make as political correctness. Of 39 recommendations which followed the Lawrence Inquiry, 13 have yet to be implemented."

Dr Richard Stone, who was an adviser to Sir William Macpherson, said the police have made some improvements. But he added: "I still find that when I meet with young black people and listen to them, there is a seething anger against the police on the streets.

"They are not seeing any changes in the way they are treated by many police officers."

He praised the Yard's Racial and Violent Crime Task Force but added: "I don't think Sir John can say he is on top of the problem. I am somewhat disappointed by the language being used."

Sir John was Deputy Commissioner when the Lawrence Inquiry report was issued in 1999.

Under some pressure, his predecessor Sir Paul Condon eventually accepted the report, and the claim of institutional racism.

Sir John will hope his comments raise morale amongst officers, who wrongly assumed they were being branded racist as individuals. Many said they would not use the "stop and search" power because they were afraid of being accused of racism.

But the Commissioner's claim will also raise eyebrows on the Metropolitan Police Authority. Two weeks ago, the MPA cited "institutional racism" as a contributory factor in Scotland Yard's mistreatment of Sgt Gurpal Virdi, the Sikh officer wrongly sacked for sending racist hate mail.

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