FROM time to time different police authorities have told us that the racist element in their forces is neither more or less than that which exists in society generally.

This is not good enough. Their first responsibility is to administer the law which applies to them just as much as it applies to everyone else.

It is becoming more common these days to be told by the media of yet another murder of black and Asian youth.

It would appear that the first reaction of the police is to suggest that possibly the murder is not racially motivated, after many months and often years during which the family and community of the dead person have tortured themselves with the seeming inactivity of the police and naturally the fear that it may happen again.

A recent case of persistent and long-standing racial harassment is that of Mal Hussain, a shopkeeper in Lancaster, who after living and trying to serve the community for the last seven years (permanently in a state of siege and, I would say, daily risking his life) has had a claim against Lancaster Council thrown out by the High Court.

When he pays his council tax he is paying for the police service but not receiving it.

Chief Constable Pauline Clare should investigate this case personally. Who rules in Lancaster, the elected city council with the aid of the appointed city police, or the bomb-throwing racist slobs?

K Butler

Haston Lee Avenue

Blackburn

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.