For the British Blacklist 15th Jan 2014: http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/shakara-speaks-it-black-deaths-custody-criminals-injustice-system/
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Mark Duggan, David “Smiley Culture” Emmanuel, Kingsley Burrell, Demetre Fraser and Jacob Michael are the names of 5 Black men who met the end of their lives at the hands of British police in 2011 alone. They are but 5 names on a long list of hundreds of Men & Women of Afrikan descent who have been killed in custody since the 1960’s. Yet to date, no police officer has ever been convicted of murder, leaving a very serious question mark over the true meaning of “justice” in British society.
The recent verdict of “Lawful Killing” brought back by the Mark Duggan inquest may signal the necessity for a vote of no confidence in the British Criminal Justice System, at least on the part of the UK’s Black citizens. For if “justice” is what it is supposed to provide, it is a service that has constantly and consistently found us wanting.
Let us be clear that we are not just talking about The Metropolitan Police. Many will recall that in the aftermath of the killing, an elaborate story of a Wild West style shoot out saturated the media for weeks. Weeks in which no member of the Duggan family was contacted by a police force who kept all forms of news media well updated.
Internal British news media simply amplified the narrative, complete with long tales of Duggan’s alleged Gang affiliations and prior criminal activity. The image thus painted – that this was a man who simply got what was coming to him, representing clear signs of complicity in an agenda to white wash the incident in favour of the British Bobby. This story was then proven to be a lie when ballistic reports revealed that the only gun shot was fired by a police officer. In fact, despite insinuations to the contrary, there is no evidence linking Mark with any gun.
Such attempts to malign the characters of Black people who die in Police custody are not unique to this case. Earlier in 2011, similar tactics were used in relation to the killing of Reggae artiste Smiley Culture. Yet to be proven links to Mafioso drug trafficking operations swept through the media along with the many different and conflicting versions of the events that led to Mr Emmanuel’s death. While western nations pride themselves on “freedom of press” as a fundamental institution designed to protect citizens from possible government tyranny, such tyrannical representations have been a plague upon Black existence in the UK ever since the Windrush.
While the media maligns the victim, the so called Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) must also be brought into serious question. The commission was developed in 2002, in order to ‘ensure accountability and spread best practice and high standards of customer service’ among the force, Despite its own studies reporting that: “There was a breach of police procedure in 27% of cases … people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds were more likely to be restrained whilst in police custody than whites.” – Families of those killed in custody continuously speak of the unhelping hand they receive from this supposedly independent body.
In the aftermath of the death of Smiley Culture, Minkah Adofo, (arguably the most prominent activist on campaigns for Justice in Black deaths in custody cases for over 30 years strong), declared to an over flowing Brixton Town Hall:
“When they are killed in custody it is the IPCC that comes in to cover it up. We must be clear about this…. This is jus another front for the Police.”
The same protest meeting bore the passionate testimony of Bev Hamilton, Mother of Wayne Hamilton who was found dead on the 16th of June after being followed and shot by the police a whole week earlier. While telling the heart wrenching story of her son’s death she informed an astounded gathering: “We had to wait 9 months. Just 2 weeks ago we got the autopsy report. The IPCC lied to us from start to finish”.
Consequently, the IPCC, much like the Police Complaints Authority before it, has not been able to aid the process of justice in any case involving death at the hands of the police.
But it goes beyond this. Officers responsible for incidents of deaths in custody are seldom subjected to criminal trial. Instead, campaign pressure may result in an “Inquest” or “Inquiry”. Neither of these proffered methods is designed to result in conviction and sentencing. They merely present findings of investigations into deaths and events or actions ordered by a governmental body.
Unlike the case of Mark Duggan, the inquest into the death of Azelle Rodney (shot dead by police in 2005) returned a verdict of “Unlawful Killing” in 2013. In such cases, the Crown Prosecution Service is supposed to initiate Prosecution against the offending parties. Since 1990, the police have been found to have killed unlawfully in 10 cases involving Black victims. Only one case, that of Mikey Powell (run over by a police car, CS gassed a beaten to death, 2003) was ever taken to trial. The trial was essentially reduced to a circus as the CPS refused to charge the defendants with any level of murder (including manslaughter). Instead, some 10 officers involved were tried for the minor offences of reckless driving, misconduct and assault, all of whom were subsequently acquitted of all charges.
The above miscarriages of justice take place against a backdrop of increased criminalisation. The Afrikan-Caribbean community, who make up approx 2% of the population are reportedly 26 times more likely to be stopped and searched by officers and make up some 27% of law enforcements DNA database. These and other social indicators, including inequities in charges and sentencing conspire to produce the significant levels of Black over-representation in British Prisons.
What we see here is the colour code for justice in Britain is firmly in place from the streets, to the media, to highest court in the land. The number one law enforcement agency has the capacity to assume the right of life and death over Black existence, and the privilege of being protected by its media, its government and its courts. The verdict of “Lawfully Killing” therefore is in fact perfectly viable in a context where the law is designed to protect such killers.
The justification provided by the word “lawful” is a depictive tool that is being used by many politicians; as though laws are the absolute marker of what is right. At the risk of being labeled dramatic; forcibly removing Afrikans from Afrika could once be considered “Lawful Kidnapping” under British Law. Furthermore Non-consensual intercourse with Afrikan women could once be considered “Lawful Rape” under British law. Therefore it seems apparent that a Justice System designed and developed in the enslavement and colonisation of Afrikan people is simply ill equipped to protect its citizens of Afrikan descent. These acts only became ‘Unlawful’ in response to continued Afrikan resistance of the laws that protected them.
This is a problem that simply charging the police with murder will not solve. Such high levels of corruption are inherent and systematic – prevalent at every level. The possibility of any satisfactory justice within such a system is close to impossible and with no present avenue for recourse, many will be forgiven for simply not knowing what to do or how to address it.
Still – occurrences like these often inspired a renewed vigour in the call for ‘ACTION’ and now maybe the time to pursue new creative ideas for what that action entails. It must be considered that the solution to the problem is to be found in confronting not just the police, but the entire Justice system as whole. Meaning that; If Black people are to ever receive justice, the Black experience must be at the centre of shaping the principles and values that the Justice System is based upon. In other words, we must be involved in developing, shaping and defining what is considered to be ‘Law’.
So while the campaigns for justice will and must continue, it appears necessary that they evolve towards confronting this reality. The process begins with Black people in Britain collectively taking responsibility for confronting the issues beyond reactions to individual incidents and developing a comprehensive, cohesive and collective understanding of our experiences and what those solutions entail.
article by @ShakaRaBKS for the british blacklist