Police relations with minority ethnic communities have been a matter of concern and controversy in Britain for many decades.

The 1981 Scarman Inquiry into disorders in Brixton, south London, established an agenda for the development of community policing more widely. Scarman reiterated the principle of policing by consent that continues to underpin contemporary debates about policing in a diverse society.

In 1999 the Macpherson Report found that the police investigation of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence had been undermined by institutional racism, profes­sional incompetence and a failure of leadership.

The concept of institutional racism advanced by the Macpherson Report has been criticised as replicating existing models of indirect racial discrimination, and for being inconsistent.

The Macpherson Report contributed to the development of a model of antiracist policing, which suggested that the police service ought to play a proactive and interventionist role to confront racism. The 2010 Equality Act requires public sector organisations, including the police service, to develop measures to confront preju­dice and promote good community relations.

The policing diversity agenda has been developed in concert with the promotion of a service-oriented consumer-focused ethos. What began with a focus on relations with BME communities has extended to incorporate other communities and iden­tity-groups, including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people, disabled people and faith communities.

Since the 1970s a key concern among debates about police relations with minority ethnic communities has been the disproportionate use of stop and search powers.

Many communities have been under-policed in terms of the policing of hate crime. Underpinning this has been the tendency for police officers not to recognise the impact of incidents. Additionally has been a tendency for officers to follow an order mainte­nance strategy that restores ‘normalcy’ to relations between victims and perpetrators.

The diversity agenda within policing has been developed for business reasons, to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness, and to enhance legitimacy and public consent. Nonetheless, important complexities remain, not least because of organisational challenges in terms of translating concepts and principles into rou­tine police practices.