Posts Tagged ‘racism’

Manchester Stands in Solidarity with Child Q and Calls for ‘No Police in Schools’

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Kerry Pimblott, Northern Police Monitoring Project (NPMP)

Hundreds gathered in St. Peter’s Square in Manchester on Friday to express solidarity and outrage at the treatment of ‘Child Q’, a 15-year of Black girl subjected to a strip-search by Metropolitan police officers at her school without the presence of an appropriate adult or parental consent. Organised by a coalition of local groups – including the Northern Police Monitoring Project (NPMP), Kids of Colour, No More Exclusions, Sisters Uncut, Kill the Bill MCR, and MCR Copwatch – the demonstration renewed calls for the removal of police from schools and the realisation of abolition in our lifetimes.  

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Description automatically generatedNPMP’s Zara Manoehoetoe addresses the crowd in St. Peter’s Square

In Manchester these demands are far from new. Following a series of complaints raised by young people in 2019, NPMP and Kids of Colour submitted a Freedom of Information request that revealed that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) planned to put twenty additional police in schools for the 2020/21 academic year. As the nation went into lockdown following the outbreak of Covid-19, grassroots organisers held forums, crafted an open letter to Mayor Andy Burnham, and launched an online survey to consult young people, parents, teachers, and wider communities about their views on the decision. The results of the survey provided the foundation for a subsequent report, Decriminalise the Classroom: A Community Response to Police in Greater Manchester’s Schools (2020), which, as NPMP member Siobhan O’Neill explained, revealed widespread opposition to police in schools and concerns that their presence exacerbates existing inequalities, foster a culture of low expectations and create a climate of hostility that leads to the criminalisation of young people, particularly working-class and racially minoritised students. Instead, respondents overwhelmingly called for funding to be spent on non-punitive alternatives such as youth workers, counsellors, and more teachers. 

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Description automatically generated with low confidenceNPMP’s Siobhan O’Neill describes the findings of the 2020 Decriminalise the Classroom report

During Friday’s demonstration, these concerns were echoed once again by parents, campaigners, and young people outraged by the account of sexuall abuse and trauma experienced by Child Q. Among the speakers was Lisa Eigbadon: ‘I felt compelled to speak today because No Police in Schools is a movement and campaign I’m very passionate about because I went to a school with a school based police officer,’ Eigbadon explained. ‘When I heard about Child Q I felt sick in my stomach, and I put myself in her position and her shoes because I’ve been subject to police confrontation […] in school’. 

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Description automatically generatedLisa Eigbadon describes attending a school with a school-based police officer in Manchester

Angela Henry of the Manchester branch of No More Exclusions and Eline Davies of Kill the Bill Manchester connected Child Q’s experience to wider systemic patterns of racialised surveillance, discrimination and violence in schools. As Angela Henry explained, ‘Child Q is not the first Black young person that finds themselves being dealt with disproportionately, aggressively, illegally and traumatically at the hand of police who are supposed to serve and protect, and she won’t be the last under current policing structures.’ All of the speakers insisted that ‘police have no place in schools’ and joined Henry in calling for non-punitive transformative justice interventions of the type outlined in the recent No More Exclusions report, ‘“What about the Other 29?”: Demystifying Abolition in the UK Education System’. ‘Abolition’, as NPMP member Zara Manoehoetoe explained, ‘is about putting love and care at the centre of our approach.’ 

A group of people standing on steps holding a sign

Description automatically generated with low confidenceKids of Colour founder, Roxy Legane, addresses the crowd in Manchester.

Kids of Colour founder, Roxy Legane, recounted some of the more recent developments in the local No Police in Schools campaign which through collaboration with young people, parents, and members of the National Education Union’s North West Black Members Organising Forum secured a landmark victory in July 2021 when Councillor Garry Bridges  announced that plans to introduce twenty additional officers were being scrapped. Despite these gains, Legane cautioned that police are still a presence in many local schools and that parents at a school in Trafford are currently embroiled in a battle to halt the introduction of additional officers. As Legane explained, such developments contradict the stated policy of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority that if a school does not want an officer, they will not be forced to have one, a reality that necessitates concerned parents, young people, and community members continue to push back. Pushing back, Manoehoetoe asserted, means identifying those schools that have, or are seeking to introduce, a police presence and contacting the board of governors and local councillors to express your discontent. Whether they are operating as ‘schools-based police officers’, ‘school resource officers’, ‘school liaison officers’ or by another name, if you are a teacher you should organise with your local union to pass motions opposing police in schools. And, you should join the more than 25,000 people that have already signed the No police in UK schools petition.

Withdraw your consent.

Abolition in our lifetimes. 

NPMP statement in support of the STOP THE SCANDAL campaign

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The Northern Police Monitoring Project (NPMP) wishes to offer its full support to the Stop the Scandal campaign launched by the Racial Justice Network and Yorkshire Resists. The stop and scan initiative allows police to check people’s fingerprints in the street against immigration and crime databases.  

As the Stop the Scandal campaign has argued, the introduction of this scheme acts to ‘turn the UK police into a border force’. This scheme has been introduced without due consultation with the public, and there is no indication of: any checks against officer discrimination, checks against (racist) issues with the biometric technology, and checks of the accuracy of Home Office immigration databases. Given robust evidence of racism at all levels of policing, including evidence of racial discrimination in biometrics and data, stop and scan will undoubtedly impact most harshly on Black and Brown communities.

The interlocking of policing and immigration control agencies is likely to perpetuate racism and contribute to what is already a ‘hostile environment’ for People of Colour who live with the ubiquitous threats of detention, deportation, criminalisation and incarceration.

We encourage people to support the Stop the Scandal campaign, and particularly it’s demands that the Home Office:

To find out more or support the campaign, visit the website (www.stopthescan.co.uk), sign the petition (https://tinyurl.com/y49ltaez), and help spread the word about this oppressive practice.  

Open letter regarding ‘Project Servator’

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FAO Greater Manchester Police

 

We, the undersigned, are concerned about the implementation of ‘Project Servator’ in the city of Manchester. We are more concerned about the unwillingness of Greater Manchester Police to justify this practice, or to respond to the legitimate concerns of the community.

 

In a statement on Project Servator, the Northern Police Monitoring Project drew attention to a  video tweeted by Greater Manchester Police (@GMpolice) which showed uniformed officers handing out leaflets in the Manchester Arndale shopping centre. In the video, Superintendent Chris Hill stated that those who do not want to engage with leafleting officers would be ‘watched’ by plain-clothes officers. He has also urged the public not to worry about more ‘checks’ taking place.

 

We echo the contention of the Northern Police Monitoring Project that the public have the right to go about their daily lives without fear of state monitoring and surveillance. When individuals are not obligated to engage with the police, they have a choice, and choosing not to should not be grounds for suspicion. Whether in a rush or averse to leaflets, there are countless reasons individuals may choose not to engage with leafleting officers. Given the harm that over-policing has caused to many communities, we would even suggest that a direct desire not to engage with the police could be entirely justifiable and should not be grounds for suspicion.

 

Tactics like ‘stop and search’ have been shown to criminalise people and communities, without leading to effective crime prevention. ‘Project Servator’ is another example of police forces monitoring and imposing themselves upon individuals without any legitimate justification. ‘Project Servator’ presents itself as the police and community working together, but there can be no true partnership when individuals who do not participate are deemed potentially criminal. Given that GMP seek to present itself in this way, we are particularly disappointed that there has been no response to concerns raised and no attempt to justify this practice.

 

We hope that the public will continue to question this practice and believe that policing cannot continue without accountability. We call upon Greater Manchester Police to respond to our concerns and to end Project Servator.

 

Signed:

  1. Northern Police Monitoring Project
  2. Dr Remi Joseph-Salisbury, (Northern Police Monitoring Project; Racial Justice Network; University of Manchester)
  3. Dr Laura Connelly (Northern Police Monitoring Project)
  4. Dr Tanzil Chowdhury (Northern Police Monitoring Project, Queen Mary University of London)
  5. Ilyas Nagdee, NUS Black Students Officer
  6. Dr Asim Qureshi, Research Director, CAGE
  7. Ewa Jasiewicz, Writer and Union Organiser
  8. Jas Nijjar (Brunel University London)
  9. Roxy Legane (Kids of Colour)
  10. Zita Holbourne, National Chair BARAC UK & National Vice President, PCS union
  11. Dr Meghan Tinsley (University of Manchester)
  12. Dr Kate Hardy, Associate Professor, Leeds University Business School
  13. Dr Patrick Williams (Sites of Resistance, Manchester Metropolitan University)
  14. Scarlet Harris (University of Glasgow)
  15. Lee Jasper, Former London Deputy Mayor, Blacksox Sponsor
  16. Hamish Reid, University of Nottingham
  17. Dr Lisa Long (Leeds Beckett University)
  18. Dr Adam Elliott-Cooper (King’s College London)
  19. Peninah Wangari-Jones (Racial Justice Network)
  20. Lowkey (HipHop Artist)
  21. Chantelle Lewis (PhD researcher, Goldsmiths)
  22. Dr Waqas Tufail (Leeds Beckett University)
  23. Dr Azeezat Johnson (QMUL)
  24. Jessica Perera (Institute of Race Relations)
  25. Yusef Bakkali (Birmingham City University)
  26. Katrina Ffrench, Chief Executive – StopWatch
  27. Dr Jamie Woodcock (University of Oxford)
  28. Dr Musab Younis, (Queen Mary University of London)
  29. Dr John Narayan (Birmingham City University)
  30. Hafsah Aneela Bashir ( Poet, Playwright, Co-Director of Outside The Frame Arts )
  31. Dr Leon Sealey-Huggins (University of Warwick)
  32. Dr Gary Anderson, Senior Lecturer Drama, Liverpool Hope University
  33. Dr Niamh Malone, Senior Lecturer Drama, Liverpool Hope University
  34. Dr Necla Açik (University of Manchester)
  35. Manchester Momentum
  36. Afshan D’souza-Lodhi (Northern Police Monitoring Project, poet and playwright)
  37. Dr Katy Sian (Northern Police Monitoring Project, University of York)
  38. Ian Allinson (former candidate for Unite General Secretary, Manchester)
  39. Kojo Kyerewaa, (Black Lives Matter UK)
  40. Guy Parker
  41. James Chambers
  42. Mea Aitken (Kids of Colour)
  43. Fowsia Cansuur (Kids of Colour)
  44. Clara Paillard (PCS union, President of Culture Group, personal capacity)
  45. Farzana Khan (Director, Healing Justice London, Fellow International Curators Forum)
  46. Right to Remain
  47. Dr Kim Foale (Geeks for Social Change)
  48. Liz Fekete, Director Institute of Race Relations
  49. Dr Kerry Pimblott (University of Manchester)
  50. Becky Clarke (Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Manchester Metropolitan University)
  51. Dr Karis Campion (University of Manchester)
  52. Dr Samantha Fletcher (Lecturer in Criminology, Manchester Metropolitan University)
  53. Dr Helen Monk (Lecturer in Criminology, Liverpool John Moores University)
  54. Isobel Cecil (PCS Union, youth engagement worker)
  55. Niamh Eastwood, Executive Director, Release
  56. Y-Stop
  57. Sharon Adetoro
  58. Opemiposi Adegbulu (Lecturer, University of Huddersfield)
  59. Dr Charlie Ingham (Clinical Psychologist).
  60. Ashli Mullen (University of Glasgow)
  61. CAGE
  62. Abigail Stark, University of Central Lancashire
  63. Dr Lauren Wroe, Social Workers Without Borders
  64. Rob Dawson
  65. Dr Philippa Tomczak, University of Nottingham
  66. Ryan Bradshaw (Solicitor, Leigh Day)
  67. Simon Pook (Human and Civil Rights Solicitor, Robert Lizar Solicitor)
  68. Sue Lees (retired resident of Greater Manchester)
  69. Paul Duggan (retired resident of Greater Manchester)
  70. Phil Edwards (Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Manchester Metropolitan University)
  71. Dr Sadia Habib
  72. Mx Dennis Queen, Disabled Activist, GMCDP (Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People) and MDPAC (Manchester Disabled People Against Cuts)
  73. Michael Etienne, Barrister
  74. Black Lives Matter UK
  75. Lara Datta
  76. Manchester Disabled People Against Cuts (MDPAC)
  77. Rose Arnold, Rising Up! Manchester Families
  78. Dr James Trafford (University of the Creative Arts)
  79. Max Farrar (Emeritus Professor Leeds Beckett University)
  80. Melz Owusu (Kinfolk Network)
  81. Tom Kemp (University of Kent)
  82. George Grace (Next to Nowhere, Liverpool)
  83. Sisters Uncut Manchester
  84. Dr Fahid Qurashi, Lecturer in Sociology
  85. Marion Dawson, activist, Smash IPP
  86. Anandi Ramamurthy
  87. Lani Parker on behalf of sisters of Frida
  88. Jan Cunliffe Co Founder JENGbA (Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association)
  89. SuAndi Black Arts Alliance
  90. Dr Rajesh Patel, Senior Lecturer Manchester Metropolitan University
  91. Sisters Uncut Leeds
  92. Dr Rizwaan Sabir (Liverpool John Moores University)
  93. Viji Kuppan
  94. Dr Jason Arday

Northern Police Monitoring Project: Public Statement, National Stephen Lawrence Day

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Today – the 22 April 2019 – marks the first National Stephen Lawrence Day. It provides us with an important opportunity to commemorate the life of Stephen. And it provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the work that still needs to be done to support local people, communities and campaigns in the face of police harassment, intimidation, violence and racism.

The Macpherson Inquiry into the police handling of the murder of Stephen in 1993 found the police to be ‘institutionally racist’. Twenty years since its publication, racism within policing continues to be a problem. We see this in racially disproportionate stop and search, deaths following police contact, and in the use of tasers.

We must recognise that racism remains embedded within the functioning of the police. As Ambalavaner Sivanandan argued, it continues to reside, both overtly and covertly, “in the policies, procedures, operations and culture of public or private institutions – reinforcing individual prejudices and being reinforced by them in turn.”

Today, in Stephen’s memory, we urge the public to demand a radical re-imagining of policing and criminal justice as we know it. The Northern Police Monitoring Project stands in solidarity with Black and Brown communities, whom in the last few years have witnessed an intensification in their mistreatment at the hands of the police. In particular, we stand in solidarity with the over-policed communities of Greater Manchester – communities that feel the effects of the racist ‘gang’ narrative that is imposed upon them by the police to justify their over-policing.

Please join us for our next event in collaboration with Kids of Colour – Kids of Colour on Policing. Monday 29 April, 6pm – 8pm, Saint Peter’s House| Oxford Road| Manchester

 

LONG READ – Macpherson, twenty years on: Diversifying the police won’t end institutional racism

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In this article, Remi Joseph-Salisbury and Laura Connelly of the Northern Police Monitoring Project discuss institutional racism and the limits of calls to diversify the police force (estimated read time: 6 minutes).

It’s twenty years since the publication of the Macpherson report into the police handling of the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Macpherson’s key finding was that the Metropolitan Police were ‘institutionally racist’, a charge that has been levelled at other forces, including Greater Manchester Police. Last month, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, lauded the ‘transformative effect’ the report had on policing but lamented that ‘we still have much more to do.’ But the truth is, little has changed.

At every level of policing, racism endures as a problem. From stop and search and inclusion in ‘gang’ databases, to the use of tasers and deaths following police contact, Black people are disproportionately likely to be harmed by the police.

One of the most common and seemingly well-meaning responses to police racism is to call for greater representation of Black and Brown communities in the police force. Given that none of the 43 police forces in England and Wales currently reflects the racial demographics of their communities, this seems like a logical and relatively uncontroversial response to a long-standing problem. Last week, the Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire, Mark Burns-Williamson, called for legislative changes to enable the police to attract, recruit and retain officers from ‘BAME’ backgrounds. And just a week or so prior, the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Sara Thornton, suggested that new laws are needed to enable positive discrimination in police recruitment. However, to view the racial diversification of the police force as any kind of meaningful solution is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of racism. Such calls fail to take seriously the lessons of recent history, including those highlighted by Macpherson.

In recent years, we have seen a shying away from the idea that the police are institutionally racist. The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Cressida Dick, says that she doesn’t believe the police force is still institutionally racist, and Sara Thornton says the term is unhelpful ‘because it was misunderstood and taken as a slur on every officer’. Perhaps more surprisingly, despite finding racial disparities in policing, the 2017 ‘Lammy Review’ ‘avoids all mention of institutional racism’ and instead uses the more ‘palatable’ term, ‘unconscious bias’. While the concept of unconscious bias has gained traction recently, it ‘moves the centre of gravity from institutions and structures to the individual and, unfortunately, to the unconscious.’ It is by re-centring the concept of institutional racism that we can begin to understand the limits of calls for more Black police officers.  

As the term itself implies, the problem with policing should not be understood as solely the fault of individual officers. This is not to say that individual officers shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions but to recognise that racism also – and perhaps more perniciously – manifests at the level of the institution. It is, as  Macpherson put it, ‘the collective failure of an organisation’. Introduced by Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael) and Charles V. Hamilton in their seminal 1967 work Black Power, the concept is important for anti-racism as it shifts our focus from the prejudices of individuals, to the systemic and embedded functioning of institutions. As Ambalavaner Sivanandan argued, ‘institutional racism is that which, covertly or overtly, resides in the policies, procedures, operations and culture of public or private institutions – reinforcing individual prejudices and being reinforced by them in turn.’ It is imbued within the very fabric of society and a defining feature of the state apparatus.  

In this respect, the concept of institutional racism allows us to challenge the dominant narrative  which constructs police brutality and racism as something that is exceptional. It helps us to see that the problem is not simply a ‘few rotten apples’ but a rotten apple cart. If we only replace the apples and not the cart, the new apples will simply rot too. Such an intervention would be fundamentally misdiagnosing the problem: treating the symptom, not the disease. This is not only a hypothetical or theoretical point but one that is supported by empirical evidence.

For example, a 2017 paper examined the correlation between police shootings and the racial demographics of police forces in the United States. The report concluded that ‘simply increasing the percentage of Black officers is not an effective policy solution’. In fact, the report found that fatal encounters between Black citizens and the police were more likely to occur in cities with higher proportions of Black officers. Based on the concept of ‘critical mass’, the authors tentatively suggest that a change in organisational culture might be possible when Black officers constitute at least 30% of a police force. But the authors are, quite rightly, reluctant to say whether or not this would reduce the number of Black deaths at the hands of the police.

Calls for more Black officers are flawed for a number of reasons. Firstly, they assume that racial solidarity exists between Black officers and the Black communities that they police. Yet as Forman argues in Locking Up Our Own, many Black officers don’t see their employment as racially significant. They do not take up their jobs in an attempt to rid the police force of racism. On the contrary, US research published in 2008 found that Black police officers were actually more likely than white officers to racially profile Black drivers. Findings like these expose the ‘more Black officers’ argument to be dependent upon an essentialist assumption that all Black people are inherently anti-racist. This fails to recognise the insidious nature of racism. An individual is not incapable of having racially-prejudiced attitudes simply because they themselves are racialised as black. Perhaps more importantly – given that racism can be perpetuated without individual intent – it certainly does not reflect an inability to reproduce institutional racisms.

Relatedly, the racial diversification of the police is not only likely to be ineffective in tackling institutional racism but it also operates to give legitimacy to racist policing. Without systemic change, replacing white faces with ‘BAME’ faces is mere tokenism: a superficial intervention that threatens to obfuscate the systemic nature of racism in the police. Like Trevor Phillips’ ‘work’ condemning Black and Brown communities, Sajid Javid’s role as Home Secretary shows all too clearly that Brown faces in high places can be used to disguise racist agendas. His appointment as part of Theresa May’s ministerial reshuffle in early 2018 enabled her to make the (false) claim that the government now “looks more like the country it serves.” But Javid’s staunch advocacy of the hostile environment agenda serves as a clear reminder that he should in no way be misconstrued as having the interests of Black and Brown people at heart. More Black officers would merely create the illusion of change, lending weight to the myth that we are on the path towards inevitable equality. We are not. More Black police officers might increase trust in the police for Black and Brown communities but, unless there is radical change, perhaps Black and Brown communities are right not to trust the police.

Thirdly, even if there was a way of ensuring that the critical mass of new Black recruits were all anti-racist individuals, the ‘more Black officers’ argument only becomes thinkable when we significantly underestimate the endemic nature of institutional racism in the police. Policing fosters an insular occupational culture which can operate to deter Black (potentially anti-racist) officers from straying outside of established norms. Given the role that policing has played in protecting capitalism and maintaining colonial regimes, it should come as no surprise then that, as Alex Vitale puts it, the ‘police exist primarily as a system for managing and even producing inequality’. In this sense, even if anti-racist officers were recruited into the police, their individual agenda is likely to be supplanted by that of the institution.

Finally, calls to diversity the police force place the onus upon Black and Brown people for challenging racism and educating other officers. The responsibility for creating change becomes misplaced and, as Audre Lorde argues, ‘the oppressors maintain their position and evade their responsibility for their own actions.’ To redress racism in the police – and elsewhere – it is important that those racialised as white, properly reckon with the inequities of white supremacy. The burden should not fall to those marginalised by the power structure, though it so often does, but to those who benefit from it.

To recognise racism as institutional therefore takes us to a difficult and deeply uncomfortable position. We begin to see that there are no easy solutions: liberal reforms simply will not do. To tackle the deep roots of racism in the police, we need nothing short of a radical re-imagining of policing and criminal justice as we know it, or what Vitale speaks of as ‘the end of policing’.

Christopher Alder Justice Campaign Appeal

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Northern Police Monitoring Project have been proud and honoured to know, support and be supported by Janet Alder. Janet is a tireless campaigner who is appealing for support in order to tell the story of her brother’s death, 20 years ago. Janet is aiming to raise £10,000 to allow her to work with a writer on a book that will reveal all the twists and turns of the state’s efforts to suppress the truth and prevent justice.

Any contributions will be very gratefully received and all those who contribute at least £20 will receive a copy of the book when it comes out (hopefully by the end of 2019 at the latest), and all those who contribute at least £15 will receive a copy of the e-book. The link to donate is here (fundrazr.com/21OzCa) and more information from Janet is below.

CHRISTOPHER ALDER
Christopher Alder was a former paratrooper decorated for his services in the Falklands; he had two children, and was in training for a new career in computer programming. On April 1, 1998, after a night out, Christopher got into a fight outside the Waterfront nightclub in Hull; after being punched in the face, he was briefly knocked unconscious and lost a tooth. An ambulance was called, and Christopher was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, accompanied by police officers. His injuries were not deemed serious, and he was discharged, after which the police drove him to the police station one mile away.

Half an hour later he was dead.

I am Christopher’s sister and I have been campaigning to find out the truth around my brother’s death, and to hold those responsible to account, ever since. Our campaign has involved an inquest and three major court cases, slowly revealing some of the grotesque details about what was done to my brother – both before and after his death – as well as the lengths to which the British state will go to prevent justice. My book will tell the story of this campaign, and the astounding revelations it has brought out: including the following…

* By the time Christopher arrived in the police station, he was unconscious again, had lost his belt as well as another tooth, and had received new cuts to the lip and above the eye. But neither the cause of these injuries, nor their role in causing his death, have ever been investigated.
* Christopher had been left face down in the custody suite gasping for breath in the last minutes of his life, with police officers later standing around making monkey noises over his corpse – but the jury looking at the case were denied access to the CCTV audiotape which clearly revealed this.
* The official ‘investigation’ into Christopher’s death allowed all the evidence from the police van – including blood samples, CS gas canisters and clothing – to be destroyed.
* Humberside police had both myself and my lawyer under illegal surveillance whilst we prepared our court case.
* Following Christopher’s death, Humberside police raided his flat and dredged up Christopher and his siblings’ social services records in an apparent attempt to find something with which to smear us – just like they smeared the victims of the Hillsborough disaster.

* In 2011, it was discovered that the body the police had given my family to bury at Christopher’s funeral eleven years earlier had in fact been that of Grace Kamara – a 77 year old Nigerian woman. The police had kept Christopher’s body, it was finally revealed, in 6 body bags in a Hull mortuary all that time – for ‘training purposes’.
* The Home Office had apparently colluded in covering this up by repeatedly blocking – for over ten years – attempts by Grace Kamara’s family to come to England to give her a burial.

I could go on – and this book will do so. I believe Christopher’s case is not only a damning indictment of my (and Grace Kamara’s) family’s treatment by the state, but has far reaching significance for the whole of society. In particular:

1.Unlawful killing with impunity.

The inquest jury concluded that Christopher Alder was ‘unlawfully killed’, as even the British government finally admitted in 2011. Yet no one has ever been properly held to account for his killing. Christopher’s case demonstrates the total failure of the British state to hold ‘its own’ to account for their killings – and the collusion of all the various criminal justice institutions, including police, CPS, and IPCC, in this failure.

2. It keeps on happening.

Whilst Christopher himself was unique, what happened to him at the hands of the police was sadly not – and nor was the state’s denial of justice that followed. The same thing is happening again and again, with an average of one death in police custody every week.

3. Legal precedents

Several precedents have been set during the course of our campaign, including:

– In 2011, we took the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to court – the first time this had ever happened.

– Also in 2011, on the eve of our case opening at the European Court of Human Rights, the British government issued an unprecedented unilateral declaration admitting its responsibility for a death in custody, and for racial discrimination against my brother.

4. Race relations

Christopher’s case reveals the underlying racism in the British police force, which even the government has admitted is ‘institutional’. My book will set the case in the wider context of the racial supremacism that has degraded and dehumanised black people in Britain from the time of our parents’ journey to Hull from Nigeria in the 1950s until now.

I need to raise £10,000 to fund a professional writer to work with me on the book, so we can get this historic case in the public eye – and finally expose the whole truth about Christopher’s case. I will deeply appreciate any support you can give.

FURTHER INFORMATION

INQUEST briefing on the death of Christopher Alder:http://inquest.org.uk/pdf/Christopher%20Alder%20briefing.pdf

Article on Christopher’s death and the campaign: https://www.rt.com/op-edge/311384-christopher-alder-police-brutality/
IPCC report into Christopher’s death: https://www.ipcc.gov.uk/investigations/christopher-alder-humberside-police

Information from the Christopher Alder Campaign for Justice: 20th Anniversary Memorial on 31st March 2018

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Christopher Alder died 20 years ago in the early hours of 1st April 1998.  He was a fit and active 37-year-old black man who was born and grew up in Hull. He had served as a paratrooper in the 1980s and he was making a life for himself back in Hull when he died.

He died slowly, hands cuffed behind his back, face down on the custody suite floor at Queens Gardens Police Station, Hull. Christopher was unconscious and struggling for breath. His breathing was getting slower and louder, and more laboured. Paramedics were called too late to save him and the whole 11 minutes sequence was recorded on custody suite video. During this time police officers laughed and joked; later on, monkey noises can be heard on the tape.

Despite Humberside Police attempts to present a different story, Janet Alder, Christopher’s sister, defied their attempts to intimidate her and their attempts to deflect her questions about her brother’s death. In search of truth and justice, she launched the Justice for Christopher Alder campaign.

In 2000 the inquest jury in Hull gave a verdict that Christopher Alder was killed unlawfully. Still no-one has been convicted in connection with this case.

This injustice remains unresolved in 2018, as are the injustices visited on Janet Alder in her campaign for justice, including:

All these are unresolved issues.

 

This is why the 20th anniversary of Christopher’s death will be commemorated by a protest gathering at 1pm on Saturday 31st March 2018 (Easter Saturday) at Queen Victoria Square, Hull.

 

PLEASE JOIN US

BLACK LIVES MATTER

NO JUSTICE – NO PEACE