24 May 2018 — Institute of Race Relations
This week, the IRR welcomes two path-breaking reports, by Amnesty International and The Monitoring Group, on the racially discriminatory nature of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Trident Gangs Matrix intelligence database. IRR News also gathers together critical perspectives on gang databases from Lord Herman Ouseley and the advocacy organisation Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA).
By revealing institutional racism in action, these two reports are beginning to change the terms of debate. The Information Commissioner’s Office has launched an investigation into whether the Gangs Matrix breaches the Data Protection Act. But it’s not just the police, but the Home Office, local authorities and all other public sector agencies involved in the multi-agency approach to combating ‘gang-associated activity’ that have questions to answer about the racial data profiling of young black men and boys. For, as the IRR argues, there is evidence to suggest we are witnessing a continuation of the ‘Windrush scandal’, only, this time it is the grandchildren of the Windrush generation that have been let down by the expansive scope of a ‘hostile environment’ for inhabitants of certain neighbourhoods and particular estates in London and, in other areas of the UK.
We also review a new report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons on an inspection of a 2017 charter flight and we also have our regular calendar of racism and resistance is available here.
IRR News Team
Press Releases
Police database spreads institutional racism
The IRR welcomes Amnesty International and The Monitoring Group’s recent reports on the racially discriminatory nature of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Gangs Matrix intelligence database.
Commentary
Screwed by the system
Lord Herman Ouseley writes for IRR News on the findings of a recent Amnesty International report on the Gangs Matrix.
JENGbA responds to the Amnesty International report on the Gangs Matrix
Below we reproduce Joint Enterprise Not Guilty by Association’s (JENGbA) statement on the recent Amnesty International report on the Gangs Matrix.
Reviews
Excessive use of restraint during charter deportation flight
A new report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons on an inspection of a 2017 charter flight deporting people to third countries makes for horrifying reading.
Latest News
Calendar of racism and resistance (4 – 16 May 2018)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe.
Forthcoming Events
Populism, People and the Media
This seminar aims to advance understanding of the political economy of ‘populism’ and to examine the role of traditional media in promoting, investigating or resisting ‘populism’.
Windrush: Songs in a Strange Land
Seventy years since the Empire Windrush carried hundreds of migrants to London, hear the Caribbean voices behind the 1940s headlines. Why did people come? What did they leave behind? And how did they shape Britain?
161 Festival 2018
An anti-fascist music festival.
The New Dark Age 