Met police bows to pressure to drop ‘racist’ question

originally published:
7th September 2009

Scotland Yard said today that it was altering a “potentially racist” form which asks clubs whether they play music popular with the black and Asian communities, after pressure from politicians, musicians and equality campaigners.

Form 696 – targeting violence at music venues – asks owners to provide the name, address and telephone numbers of artists and promoters, as well as the style of music to be played at forthcoming events. In particular, the form gives “bashment, R&B, garage” as options – genres popular with black and Asian people.

A letter, with more than 50 signatories including Feargal Sharkey, chief executive at UK Music, was sent to the government’s equality watchdog, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, at the end of August.

It stated: “We are deeply concerned that Form 696 has the potential to be misused by the police to discriminate against ethnic minorities … There is now a danger that police across the country will adopt this measure and further entrench this illiberal and potentially racist practice.”

Today Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Martin, the head of the Yard’s clubs and vice unit, announced that venues would no longer be asked for details of the music style. A requirement to provide the telephone number of the performing artist will also be dropped and an independent “scrutiny panel” will be set up to ensure that the form is not misused, Martin said.

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Posted by Tippa Naphtali on 10/09/2009. Filed under Breaking News & Digests,Race & Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry