If anyone doubted that our criminal justice system, our policing, our mental health services, our schools and social services systems disproportionately intervene and mete out more punitive sanctions and interventions on the black community, the above headline should put you in no doubt.

In 2021, it is difficult to comprehend that 74% of children held on remand awaiting trial in London are black. Prison is no place to hold a child who has not been convicted of any crime. in 2020, 88%, or nearly 9 out of 10 children were from black or other minority ethnic backgrounds. 

Cosmopolitan London is intolerant of Black People

Black, Asian and minority ethnic people are clearly being treated unfairly in the criminal justice system and are less likely to be released on bail than white people. A key finding of the 2017 Lammy Review which looked into the issues of race in the justice system was that there was a lack of data from magistrates’ courts on this issue.

The numbers of black and minority ethnic children on remand in London is much higher than in England and Wales where in 2020, the numbers were 57%, and 33% for black children. 

The Ministry of Justice acknowledged that in addition to reviewing race disparity in the youth justice system, it needed to do much more work to tackle the deep-rooted causes of over-representation including tightening the tests court use to remand children to custody.

Mothers and fathers are to blame too

We cannot simply blame institutions. Mothers and fathers should take responsibility. There is indeed a failure in our criminal justice system, but there is also an abject failure of mothers and fathers to meaningfully, educate, guide, protect, support and continually advocate for their children.

The strength of any community is the family. There is a crisis at the heart of our families. Mothers need to reassess how they engage their children in the lives of their fathers; particularly absent fathers. There are numerous examples of good fathers being prevented from having meaningful involvement in the lives of their children after a separation. There are also far too many men walking away when their ex-partners wish that they would have more involvement in the life and experiences of their children. Fathers and mothers need to look at themselves and realise that their failings are resulting in our children being incarcerated and left on the margins of society.

Prison and Commercialisation

Look at the USA. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in 2018, black males accounted for 34% of the total male prison population, white males 29%, imprisonment rate for black males was 5.8 times higher than for white males.

As more black and ethnic minorities enter the criminal justice system, we are beginning to see the growth of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) which is characterised by the rapid expansion of prisons; higher incarceration rates of black and ethnic minorities; the use of cheap inmate labour to fulfil outside commercial contracts; and prioritisation of financial gain of companies over rehabilitating criminals. Incarceration not only destroys lives but the PIC has become a commercial imperative in the USA. We cannot afford for this to be perpetrated on our community and our young.

It is time for us to be accountable to each other.

About the author: Dr Floyd Millen is a political scientist and a former special adviser to the Cabinet Office and the founder of the first BME owned public affairs think tank Yes Minister.

Dr Millen was mentored by the former Home Secretary, The Rt Hon Charles Clarke and studied under the Conservative Peer, Professor, the Lord Norton of Louth.the

He is the Author of Police Reform and Political Accountability: The ties that bind policing in England and Wales and the United States of America.