POLICING THE MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY

UNIT 8 POLICING THE MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY 1. What do you understand by the notion “multicultural society”? 2. Do you regard your society as being multicultural and can you explain why? 3. Can you describe how at least one ethnic group in your society is culturally different? Letting the side down Read the text and comment on the implications. Gary Younge, The Guardian, Monday December 17, 2001 At the Majestyk nightclub in Leeds city centre, neon lights cut through dry ice to reveal huge quantities of bare flesh. In two separate cages, suspended from the ceiling, women in white bikinis and huge snow boots writhe to the pulsating music then step aside for young men with torsos shimmering with baby oil to replace them. Down below, with the help of sweet, fizzy alcohol, the dating game is slowly evolving into the mating game. Young people with lust in their eyes and a drink in their hand are coming down with a ritual attack of Friday night fever. (1) Outside, the bouncers stand with their backs to the main entrance looking over the city square. It is the ideal vantage point from which to retrace the flight of Sarfraz Najeib as he ran from his attackers. But these were no ordinary assailants. Among the accused were footballers Jonathan Woodgate, who has been found guilty of affray, and Lee Bowyer, who has been cleared of all charges. Though race was ruled out as a motive (2) in the retrial of Woodgate, Bowyer and two other men, the case came as a blow (3) to the club which has spent more than a decade struggling to shake off a reputation as one of the most racist in Britain. The Asian student had been beaten to within an inch of his life (4) and the two were originally charged with racially aggravated assault. The players' fame would ensure national headlines; the race of their victim initially ensured national debate. The combination of the two would send both the city and the criminal justice system into denial.(5) The first trial collapsed in April, when the media also found itself in the dock. (6) While the jury was still deliberating, the Sunday Mirror published an interview with Najeib's father insisting that the attack was racist. The judge ruled it the "most serious form of contempt". (7) When the trial restarted last month, the jury sat in a quite different world. Nearby Bradford had been scarred by some of the worst racial unrest since Brixton 20 years earlier. The events of September 11 added fuel to the fire and once again racial tensions were running high. So while media attention this time has not been anywhere near as intense, the ramifications are still considerable. For in a one-team city which has spent much money and energy reshaping its image, the repercussions will begin now the trial has ended. In the past, when club supporters have been involved in violence, the city council has been quick to distance itself. (8) This time it will not be possible. Leeds United, despite having, in the 1960s, one of the first black players to play in the Football League, has always considered itself to be a whites-only club. But the reality of life in the city ran counter to that. More non-white immigrants settled, particularly in the Chapeltown area, and the wave of organised racism that spread through the country in the 1960s and 70s settled on the terraces of Elland Road, where the National Front recruited openly. Nick Varley, a Leeds supporter and author of the authoritative Park Life, a Search for the Heart of Football, recalls hearing at his first match a call-and-response chant involving "hundreds, possibly thousands of fans", aimed at the one black player on the pitch. "Trigger, trigger, trigger," called one side of the stand. "Shoot that f****** nigger," came the reply. "Which f****** nigger?" "That f****** nigger," was the answer, as the crowd pointed at the target of their venom. "All around me were fans who joined in," writes Varley. "Not everyone, by any means, but a lot." By the late 70s, a white Leeds fan, Paul Thomas, had had enough of standing among what he felt was the silent majority. Along with friends and activists from the local trades council, he set up Leeds United Against Racism, in order to challenge the presence of fascists at the ground. "I thought either you tolerated the racism or you did something about it," he says. When they told police they intended to leaflet (9) the ground with an anti-racist message, the initial reaction was hostile. The police made it known through the press that they feared political violence would break out. The club considered suing the campaigners for unauthorised use of the club badge on the leaflets. But, says Thomas, the response from fans was encouraging. "Quite a few came up and congratulated us, saying stuff like: 'It's about time somebody did something about that lot.” Under pressure from the council, which then owned the ground, club officials were persuaded to meet the demonstrators. Despite the choruses of hate ringing from its stands, the managing director refused to believe there was a problem and demanded proof. The anti-racists produced Terror on the Terraces, recording the abuse. "It's not as though we did any great undercover work," says Thomas. "We were just reporting what had already been reported." Gradually, thanks to persistent activism, a change of management at the club and more pressure from the council, the atmosphere started to improve. There were statements condemning racist chanting from senior management and regular adverts in the programme against racism. The club developed its links with local black and Asian communities (it is presently working with Kosovan refugees). It also distributes anti- racist certificates to schools. Racism has not been eliminated there, any more than it has anywhere else in the country, but it is no longer the dominant culture. Recently Thomas sat near a racist heckler and was backed by other fans when he asked him to stop. When the man threatened Thomas, he called the club's anti-racist hotline to complain. The club called him back quickly, asked detailed questions about the incident, and then called again to say the man's season ticket had been withdrawn. Now, once again, Leeds United finds itself associated with allegations of racism, although this time very much against the run of play. Many Leeds fans - including committed anti-racists such as Thomas - believe racism was not a factor: "I think it tells you more about young men and alcohol than it does about race," he says. Activity 1 Explain the meaning of the underlined words Discuss with a partner the issue of racial abuse, football ‘culture’ and the roles of the police and the authorities. Is this poster effective? Why? The above poster is part of the Metropolitan Police (London) campaign to stop so- called “hate crime”. There are other posters in the series which can be seen at their web-site www.met.police.uk Read this text about the approach to multi-ethnic society policing in the ctivity 2 " Keeping the shop open!" Some years ago, it might still have been possible to wonder whether the multiethnic of products he sells to the altered population of he has always sold, and as a result he will have ame situation as this greengrocer. But there is one (Eric van der Horst – Rotterdam – Rijnmond Police Department) iscussion ission in “Policing a multicultural society”? Netherlands. A “ society was a reality. Nowadays, we would do better not to fool ourselves with such basic questions any longer, and to face the facts instead. Allow me to use a metaphor to illustrate our vision. In major European cities, there are probably still a number of small local shops, such as the greengrocer on the corner of the street in an old quarter of the city. There are shops like that in Rotterdam, too. The greengrocer has always sold traditional Dutch vegetables such as sprouts and cauliflower, which are displayed, fresh from the auction, in wooden boxes in front of the shop in the morning. But the population in these districts has changed and many residents of exotic origins prefer eggplants, olives and rice to traditional goods like cauliflowers and potatoes. The greengrocer now has two options: * he may either adjust the range the neighborhood and stay in business; * or he can keep on selling what to close down his shop after a while. The police are, in fact, in the exact s major difference: the police can never close down their shop: they will always be in business”. D What do you regard as your police service m With a partner, speak about the necessary changes, aims and objectives with reference to this dimension of policing. Exercise 1 Complete the text using the words in the box below: enforcement, out, enforced, public, image, force, warden, uniform, probation, to observe, embodies aw must be (1) if civilized man is to survive. Society cannot depend completely on marked men. L simple persuasion to induce law observance, and therefore it must require enforcement of law. The term .(2) implies, as does the very nature of man, the potential use of (3) and this potential, then, is necessarily a part of the police role. But the manner in which this potential is viewed by the public (4) often determines whether the police .(5) is good or bad. Because good police image tends, to affect favorably an individual’s willingness (6) the law voluntarily, police retain a rightful interest in a good image. The law enforcement officer .(7) the law so visibly and directly that neither the policeman nor the public find it easy to differentiate between the law and its enforcement. Relatively few citizens recall ever having seen a judge, fewer still, a prosecutor, coroner, sheriff (8) officer or prison .(9). The patrolman is thoroughly familiar to all this (10) picks him (11) from the crowd so distinctly that he becomes a living symbol of the law. Whether the police like it or not, they are forever Read the text about a strategy developed by the Dutch police in order to meet the eeds of a multicultural society. ld address the issues of multi ethnicity and the ed into four sub-projects: 1. recruitment and selection combating discrimination methods and policies in these four fields. dio and television clear that we lturally biased. As an answer to that problem BACON BEARD AD Question: What does n A few years ago we came to the conclusion that was necessary to develop a police policy in our service that wou consequences for our organization. We especially aimed at Turkish and Moroccan youngsters for several reasons. One of the reasons was that we already had police officers with another ethnic background coming from our former colonies. We have chosen an integrated approach. Therefore this project was divid 2. inflow and career development 3. police training 4. prevention, conflict handling and It was necessary to develop new In our regular recruitment campaigns we used national newspapers, ra guides for our advertisements. We also broadcast commercials. It became couldn’t reach certain ethnic communities through media. Therefore we had to look for other ways to get in contact with our target group. We contacted ethnic minority organisations and asked them for advice. Another important part of the project concerned selection. We discovered that to a certain extend our selection process was cu we tried to develop so-called culturally sensitive tests: BEER ULTERY not belong in this series? In this example, it is important to realise that you have to approach it from an Islamic ference in order to be able to answer the question. colleagues from the “grass-roots” vel in recruitment and selection. Colleagues were trained to do selection interviews. at it is necessary to recruit members of minority groups into all aspects system? Does this happen in Romania and in our police organization? re We also learned that it is very important to involve le This way they have the idea that they are able to recruit their own future colleagues, and, by doing this, feel committed to the newcomers from a very early stage. More changes were needed to offer a friendly environment to these newcomers. A very simple example is the menu in the police restaurant. This also became more and more multicultural over the past few years. Discussion Do you think th of the justice Exercise 2 Select the correct answer ( True or False) an and Arabic youngsters. 2. They didn’t have, until now, police officers with another ethnic background. olice managers. ctivity 3 Role play agine that you have been assigned to do a selection interview with a 30-year-old man y background. In pairs, prepare a set of questions and answers. xercise 3 Choose a correct form of the passive to complete the sentences istrative nd legislative levels to guarantee the freedom of religion. nment in a number of cases related to issues of owadays by the Ministry of Interior. year. unities ropriate word underlined. . This neighbourhood is inhabited by / from 1. The police policy to be developed aims at Morocc 3. One of the sub-projects is “inflow and career development”. 4. In the recruitment campaigns they used leaflets. 5. The selection process was culturally biased. 6. The selection interviews were done only by the p A Im from an ethnic minorit Do not forget such aspects as family background, training, motivation, etc. E 1. The government recently stated that measures .(take) at both the admin a 2. The authorities announced that the process of restitution of properties confiscated under the former regime (accelerate). 3. The new legislation .(pass) in June 1997. 4. Allegations .(transmit) to the gover wrongful arrest, harrassment and ill treatment. 5. It .(decide) by the authorities that, there is a need to create a multicultural perspective in the juvenile system. 6. The portrait of the wanted man (issue) by the police. 7. The new strategy (discuss) n 8. The anti-discrimination legislation .(implement) by next 9. The fact that many Western European countries become multi-ethnic comm (cause) by postwar migration. Exercise 4 Choose the most app 1 Muslims. 2. The conflict area was immediately surrounded from / with police troops. 3. The shop windows have been smashed from / with rocks. 4. After the meeting the street was covered by / from leaflets. 5. A new training programme is included in / with the new legislation. ficer was accused serious misconduct. he Court. ed breaking into the le story told by the suspect in court was completely made y guards. Exercise 5 Put a suitable preposition in each space. 1. The police of 2. The murderer was sentenced 20 years in prison by t 3. The investigation showed that the accused has been involv house. 4. Troops were called .when racist groups began gathering outside the downtown library. 5. The community was promised that the problem would be looked . 6. The who 7. Access to the basement level was blocked by police and securit Exercise 6 Match the description with the headings POLICE AS A MIRROR OF SOCIETY. CULTURAL ADDED VALUE PR ION TRANSPARENT PROCEDURES 1. It is not only nice to kno hat is going on in society nd anticipate those changes. No one is born with the necessary skills to provide full rest in reflecting the same ethnic diversity in their organisation. ecide on appropriate collocations. (A + B) and (B +A) behaviour, undercover, to take, statutory, to enforce, racial, aison, community, B legislation, authority, minority, law, racist, action, operation, officer, of OFESSIONALISING THE ORGANISAT w but there also is a need to know w a police services. 2. To establish their importance as a legitimate force in society, the police have a professional inte 3. Racial incidents reported to the police must be treated carefully. Victims must be heard and helped. Procedures should be transparent, especially for victims. 4. Learning from and respecting each other. It is obvious that you will only learn to overcome cultural differences if you meet and interact with other cultures. Exercise 7 D A li code, ethnic, protection practice, sexist, ombudsman, incident Reading text 3 riefing Paper for discussion on Muslim Delegation’s meeting with Home Office ngela Eagle. ult lines in Community Relations. A delegation of Muslim com inister Ms. Angela Eagle this afternoon. The meeting was planned in order to raise with her their serious ample of rash and mindless police behaviour, if not, let us assume, n act of deliberate racism, was the senseless and brutal beating up of none other than B Minister, Ms. A Fa munity leaders met the Home Office M concerns over the dangerous fault lines that have shown up in recent weeks in community relations in Britain as manifested by the outbreak of disturbances in Northern England. The most blatant ex a the Labour Party National Executive Member Shahid Malik – and in front of the rolling TV cameras. Everyone watched Shahid Malik telling the police to hold back, “It’s OK”, he was saying to them after having restrained a group of angry youths behind him. He was instead pounced upon by the police and hit ferociously, thrown on the ground and handcuffed. This one incident did raise a few important questions the delegation told the minister. Didn’t the police in Burnley know who Shahid Malik was, instead of mistaking him for he case is highly significant, said the delegation, in that it served as a powerful and he disturbances have shown a great deficit in police-community relations. However, xercise 8 in the text that has the same or similar meaning to the following: ISCUSSION the police have failed in their relations with the community? Why? nce of the media in conflicts like this. Role play at a p nce. The class is divided into two groups- the d out the truth about what really ctivity 5 Translate into English mmary of ions made to the Minister. şi liderii lor pe de o oschei şi centrele islamice în vederea folosirii mai bune a facilităţilor de care dispun, prin înfiinţarea unor Comitete consultative. one of the “thugs”? If they did not know Shahid Malik nor even his father, the deputy mayor of the town, then it says a great deal about the police relationship with the local community. However, even if they happened not to know who the gentleman was, couldn’t they see that here was a citizen trying to prevent a clash between the police and the youths? T poignant reminder to the eyes and minds of the community on what it meant to be a Pakistani or Bangladeshi in Britain. T the problem being large and multidimensional, besides local internal inquiries, the Muslim community leaders demanded the setting up of a high powered Commission of Inquiry, something like Scarman. The inquiry should examine the failures and shortcomings of policies and look into the causes that have been breeding social tension and conflict; it should recommend measures and policies in order to stop the slide towards social exclusion and create a genuinely equal and inclusive multicultural society. E Find a word worriers outburst unashamed sudden attack (v) conflict reproduce ask for D 1. Do you think 2. In what way do you think this article and the way the events are emphasized influe public opinion? 3. Discuss the role Activity 4 Imagine you are ress confere reporters and representatives of the police authorities. Prepare a set of questions and answers in order to fin happened to the Labour Party National Executive member, Shahid Malik and how the police think they will try to improve community relations in future. A This is a su the other recommendat - Importanţa stabilirii unor relaţii mai bune între comunităţile etnice parte şi autorităţile locale pe de altă parte. - Nevoia de cooperare mai strânsă între m - Moscheile şi Centrele islamice pot aduce o contribuţie considerabilă la combaterea consumului de droguri şi a comportamentului infracţional prin alocarea unor resurse proprii. Listen to the text and complete the information peration Trident – a joint Customs and police operation to tackle Jamaican ng . ___ __________________ into London’s Gatwick Airport, just over a week after _____________________________________________________________ _______________________________. They could all face ________________________________. ___________________________________ nd ________________________________________ where he was delivering the eparately. t the would not tolerate drug smuggling and those who swallowed drugs ere likely to get caught. when passengers’ behaviour was suspicious. For example, passengers __________________________________, typical behaviour of those who _________________________ In October, a woman coming om Kingston _______________________________. ) More than 30 other people ______________________________________________ - Nevoia de cooperare între autorităţi (guvern, autorităţile locale, poliţie, liderii comunităţilor religioase) în vederea prevenirii actelor de violenţă. Activity 6 Drug Mules- the Jamaican Connection O “yardie” ga s 1) On December 14 2001, British police charged ___________________________ with ___________ into Heathrow Airport. 2) The Jamaicans charged included _________________________ and all were believed to have ______ _ 3) Another seven people of unknown nationality were arrested after police allowed a “mule” on the same flight to ____________ a drugs. 4) It is not clear if the smugglers were ________________________________ or acting s A British Customs and Excise spokeswoman said the arrests underlined the fact tha British authorities w 5) According to the spokeswoman, airlines ___________________________________ ______________________ if have swallowed drugs. 6) Customs officers have stressed that ________________________________________ ____________________ fr 7) A post-mortem found that she ___________________________________________ 8 ____________________________________________________ 9) The latest arrests and ______________________________ recently passed on several Jamaicans should deter people from drugs smuggling. 10) Officials admitted that there was also a problem _____________________________ __________________________________ and there is certainly no assumption that nyone and everyone coming from __________________________________________ ink of ________________________________________. Jamaica has its problems but the beginning of 2001, _______________________________ nd at least __________________________________ . and Wales to improve ethnic presentation in the police service and among civilian staff working with the police. 2005. ber O % of EMO % of EM population in region Increase a 11. The spokeswoman added that people in the UK do not automatically _____________________________________________________________ . They th so does everywhere else. 12. Senior Superintendent Carl Williams of the Jamaican Police Force Narcotics Division stated that, since a Activity 7 Dismantling Barriers This is the slogan of the police campaign in England re The various forces have targets which should be achieved by Discuss this selection from the table with a colleague, focusing on the representation and targets (correct - November 2002 ). (E.M.O. = Ethnic Minority Officers) Force Size Num of EM of EMO to achieve target Avon and Somerset 2965 35 1.1 2 24 Bedfordshire 1050 36 3.4 10 69 Derbyshire 8 1768 35 1.97 3.2 23 Dyfed (Wales) 1013 1 0.09 1 9 G. Manchester 6890 166 2.4 7.58 356 Lancashire 3245 39 1.2 5 123 Merseyside (incl.Liverpool) 4 4270 73 1.7 2.0 14 Met. Police 26106 865 3.3 25 5661 Northampton- target shire 1162 33 2.84 2.32 On Nottinghamshire 2269 60 2.64 3.52 11 Staffordshire 2271 33 1.45 1.82 8 West Midlands 7215 300 4.16 16.11 862 West Yorkshire 5065 134 2.64 9.45 345 1. Which force (ap m Northamptonshi s been th succesfu f e inority officers? . If you were Chief Recruitment Officer in Merseyside how would you feel about nt? Very confident? 4. art fro re) ha e most l in recruitment o thnic m 2 achieving the target? Very worried? Worried? Confide 3. And for Staffordshire? Lancashire? [...]... communities in the use of stop-and-search, Mr Blunkett says in an interview published in the black newspaper The Voice, that he will publish new guidelines All those stopped by the police in future will be given a written ticket recording the event It is expected that the extra bureaucratic burden on the police will be minimised by the uuse of hand-held computers by officers at the scene Answer the questions-... by a further 17% in the year to April 2001 but the number of black people stopped went up by 4% Black people are still seven times more likely to be stopped by police The new figures dispel the claim that the police have retreated from using powers to stop and search black people because of fear of being branded as racist In an attempt to restore both the confidence of both the police and the ethnic... you think of the Met’s situation? With your partner, practice talking about the statistics in the table in a fluent, cohesive way For example: The West Midlands police force has around 300 ethnic minority officers from over 7000 in the force This represents just over 4% of all officers and compares with about 16% of ethnic minorities in the West Midlands region To achieve the 2005 target, the West Midlands... almost three times the present number Activity 8 Read the text and answer the questions below More black people stopped and searched Alan Travis, Guardian Weekly, March 14 2002 The number of black people who have been stopped and searched by police has increased, according to official figures released by the Home Secretary, David Blunkett The latest figures show that the police use of their stop-and-search... IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY 1 The police have implemented a clearly-defined non-racist policy of stop-and-search 2 The evidence for racial bias in stop-and-search comes from ethnic community reports 3 Stop-and-search powers have generally been used more selectively over the previous year 4 The police are critical of the Home Secretary’s new guidelines 5 There will be even more stop and search with the new guidelines... Secretary’s new guidelines 5 There will be even more stop and search with the new guidelines 6 Modern technology will reduce some bureaucratic problems for officers 7 It was widely assumed that the police had reduced their stop-and-search activities for ethnic minority groups . UNIT 8 POLICING THE MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY 1. What do you understand by the notion multicultural society ? 2. Do you regard your society as being multicultural. law. Whether the police like it or not, they are forever Read the text about a strategy developed by the Dutch police in order to meet the eeds of a multicultural