# Scarman Report

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Report commissioned by the UK Government following the 1981 Brixton riots

The **Scarman report** was commissioned by the UK Government following the [1981 Brixton riots](/source/Brixton_riots_(1981)). [Lord Scarman](/source/Leslie_Scarman%2C_Baron_Scarman) was appointed by then Home Secretary [William Whitelaw](/source/William_Whitelaw%2C_1st_Viscount_Whitelaw) on 14 April 1981 (two days after the rioting ended) to hold the enquiry into the riots.[1] The Scarman report was published on 25 November 1981.[2]

The terms of reference for the enquiry were "to inquire urgently into the serious disorder in Brixton on 10–12 April 1981 and to report, with the power to make recommendations".[1]

## 1981 Brixton riot

Main article: [1981 Brixton riot](/source/1981_Brixton_riot)

The [riot](/source/Riot) took place in [Brixton](/source/Brixton), [London](/source/London) on 11 April 1981. At the time when Brixton underwent deep social and economic problems — high [unemployment](/source/Unemployment), high [crime](/source/Crime), poor housing, no [amenities](/source/Amenities) — in a predominantly [African-Caribbean community](/source/British_African-Caribbean_community).[3] The [Metropolitan Police](/source/Metropolitan_Police) began *Operation Swamp 81* at the beginning of April, aimed at reducing [street crime](/source/Street_crime), mainly through the heavy use of the so-called [sus law](/source/Sus_law), which allowed police to stop and search (and ultimately jail) individuals on the basis of a mere 'suspicion' of wrongdoing. Plain clothes police officers were dispatched into Brixton, and in five days almost 1,000 people were stopped and searched.[4][*[better source needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Questionable_sources)*] The riot resulted in 299 injuries to police and 65 injuries to members of the public;[5][*[better source needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Questionable_sources)*] over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; and almost 150 buildings were damaged, with 28 burned. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved in the riot.[6]

## Evidence

As part of the inquiry the following individuals and groups gave evidence: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (Counsel - Mr J Hazan QC and Mr L Marshall Concern), the Council for Community Relations of Lambeth, [London Borough of Lambeth](/source/London_Borough_of_Lambeth), Brixton local community groups and clubs, the [Brixton Legal Defence Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brixton_Legal_Defence_Group&action=edit&redlink=1), and the [Commission for Racial Equality](/source/Commission_for_Racial_Equality).[1]

## Findings and recommendations

According to the Scarman report, the riots were a spontaneous outburst of built-up resentment sparked by particular incidents. Lord Scarman stated that "complex political, social and economic factors" created a "disposition towards violent protest". The Scarman report highlighted problems of racial disadvantage and [inner city](/source/Inner_city) decline, warning that "urgent action" was needed to prevent racial disadvantage becoming an "endemic, ineradicable disease threatening the very survival of our society".[1]

Scarman rejected the widespread public notion that the conduct of the police forces were inherently prejudicial. He traced racial prejudice back to single officers below the rank of senior officers and argued for the general integrity and respectability of the police forces. [7] The report details the use of arbitrary roadblocks, stopping and searching of pedestrians and mass detention (943 stops, 118 arrests and 75 charges). *Operation Swamp 81* was conducted by the police without any consultation with the community or the home-beat officers.[8] Liaison arrangements between police, community and local authority had collapsed before the riots and according to the Scarman report, the local community mistrusted the police and their methods of policing. Scarman recommended changes in training and law enforcement, and the recruitment of more ethnic minorities into the police force. According to the report "[institutional racism](/source/Institutional_racism)" did not exist, but [positive discrimination](/source/Positive_discrimination) to tackle racial disadvantage was "a price worth paying".[1]

## Reception

The theme of the Scarman Report was broadly welcomed, accepted and endorsed by politicians, police commissioners, the press and community relations officials. Some of the report's recommendations were implemented. "Hard policing" continued and new measures were taken to create greater public trust and confidence in official institutions. Multi-agency and "soft" policing emerged through community consultation, youth and "race relations" services.[9] However, in 1999, the Macpherson Report stated that many of the Scarman Report recommendations had been ignored and that, in fact, the Metropolitan Police was "institutionally racist".[10]

The Scarman Report pushed the issue of law and order, and specifically policing, onto the mainstream agenda. The debate in the House of Parliament to mark the publication of the Scarman Report on the 26 November 1981 had as its theme "law and order" and the then leader of the [Liberal Party](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)), [David Steel](/source/David_Steel), argued that "urgent action" to prevent a drift into lawlessness was necessary. A subsequent debate in March 1982 referenced the events of 1981 and focused on the impact of street violence, crime, [decaying urban conditions](/source/Urban_decay), and the danger of "more violence to come" if changes in both police tactics and social policy were not swiftly introduced. While both the Conservative and Labour speakers in the parliamentary debate on the riots accepted the need to support the police, substantial disagreement centred on the issue of what role social deprivation and unemployment had in bringing young people to protest violently on the streets.[11]

As a consequence of the Scarman Report a new code for police behaviour was put forward in the *[Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984](/source/Police_and_Criminal_Evidence_Act_1984)*; and the act also created an independent [Police Complaints Authority](/source/Police_Complaints_Authority_(United_Kingdom)), established in 1985, to attempt to restore public confidence in the police.[12]

## "Community relations" and "institutional racism"

Scarman reported a shift from a concern about "[race relations](/source/Race_relations)" to "[community](/source/Community) relations". According to Paul Rich,[*[who?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions)*] Lord Scarman's views expressed in the Scarman Report most closely resembled that of the mid-[Victorian era](/source/Victorian_era). Scarman was concerned with the "plight" of the ethnic communities in UK inner cities and their relationship with the rest of the national "community". He concluded that it was essential that "people are encouraged to secure a stake in, feel a pride in, and have a sense of responsibility for their own area". While the importance of community involvement in policing was recognised, the Scarman report pointed to "community redevelopment and planning" as the main area of concern. Scarman called for a policy of "direct coordinated attack on racial disadvantage".[13]

The Scarman Report sought to locate the riots in the social, economic and political context of the acute deprivation in [Brixton](/source/Brixton) at the time. Lord Scarman identified the causes of the riots in the pathology of the Caribbean family, in the question of bilingualism amongst Asian children and in the undefined problem of policing a multi-racial society.[9] In doing so Scarman highlighted what Robert Beckford has termed a "pathological image of Black youth".[14] According to the report:

"Without close parental support, with no job to go to, and with few recreational facilities available the young Black person makes his life the streets and the seedy, commercially-run clubs of Brixton. There he meets criminals, who appear to have no difficulty obtaining the benefits of a materialist society."[14]

The Scarman Report does not apportion blame to the police. While the report acknowledges that "ill considered, immature and racially prejudiced actions of some officers" contributed to the riots Lord Scarman only acknowledges "unwitting discrimination against Black people". The report concludes that "The allegation that the police are the oppressive arm of a racist state not only display a complete ignorance of the constitutional arrangements of controlling the police, it is an injustice to the senior officers of the force."[14] In his recommendations Scarman accepts that "hard" policing, such as stop and search operations, would be necessary in the future in areas characterised by severe social problems. Hence the Scarman Report seeks to establish how policing could be enforced without provoking further outbreaks of disorder.[9]

## Inquiry staff

- [Lord Scarman](/source/Lord_Scarman)

- [Philip Mawer](/source/Philip_Mawer) (Secretary)

- Nicholas Montgomery Pott (Assistant Secretary)

- Ted McCormick and Melissa Grant ([UK Home Office](/source/UK_Home_Office))

- [Robin Auld QC](/source/Robin_Auld_(judge)), Mr JGM Laws and Mr L Crawford (Counsel for the Inquiry)[1]

## See also

- [1980 St. Pauls riot](/source/1980_St._Pauls_riot)

- [1981 Handsworth riots](/source/1981_Handsworth_riots)

- [Chapeltown riots (1981)](/source/Chapeltown_riots_(1981))

- [Toxteth riots](/source/Toxteth_riots)

- [Brixton riot (1985)](/source/Brixton_riot_(1985))

- [Brixton riot (1995)](/source/Brixton_riot_(1995))

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-bbc.3631579_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-bbc.3631579_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-bbc.3631579_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-bbc.3631579_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-bbc.3631579_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-bbc.3631579_1-5) ["Q&A: The Scarman Report"](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3631579.stm). *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)*. 27 April 2004. Retrieved 28 December 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BBC.2546233_2-0)** ["1981: Brixton riots report blames racial tension"](http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/25/newsid_2546000/2546233.stm). *[BBC News](/source/BBC_News)*. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 6 January 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Kettle, Martin; Hodges, Lucy (1982). *Uprising! The Police, the People and the Riots in Britain's Cities*. [Pan Books](/source/Pan_Books). pp. 100–102. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-330-26845-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-330-26845-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [YouTube Battle for Brixton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCjZEZt3QKc), [YouTube Battle for Brixton](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW6kY6HfAqk&NR=1)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-autogenerated1_5-0)** ["Battle 4 Brixton pt6 of 6"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqDLg6GEfGg). YouTube. 22 April 2008. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/fqDLg6GEfGg) from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["How smouldering tension erupted to set Brixton aflame"](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1981/apr/13/fromthearchive). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. London. 13 April 1981. Retrieved 15 January 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-untold_7-0)** [*The Scarman report : Report of an inquiry*](https://archive.org/details/scarmanreportrep0000scar/page/105/mode/2up). Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin. 1986. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-14-022744-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-022744-4).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Brake, Mike; Hale, Chris (1991). [*Public Order and Private Lives: The Politics of Law and Order*](https://archive.org/details/publicorderpriva0000brak/page/49). [Routledge](/source/Routledge). p. [49](https://archive.org/details/publicorderpriva0000brak/page/49). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-02567-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-02567-6).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Shukra.1998_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Shukra.1998_9-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Shukra.1998_9-2) Shukra, Kalbir (1998). [*The Changing Pattern of Black Politics in Britain*](https://books.google.com/books?id=vccqIjs0GfAC&q=scarman+report). Pluto Press. p. 54. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7453-1460-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7453-1460-0).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Q&A: Stephen Lawrence murder"](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3685733.stm). *BBC News*. BBC. 5 May 2004. Retrieved 30 May 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Cashmore, Ernest; Eugene McLaughlin (1991). [*Out of order?: policing black people*](https://books.google.com/books?id=EfINAAAAQAAJ&q=scarman+report). Routledge. p. 51. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-03726-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-03726-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ipcc.gov.uk_12-0)** ["IPCC - History"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080609022635/http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/cy/index/about_ipcc/came_from.htm). [Independent Police Complaints Commission](/source/Independent_Police_Complaints_Commission). 2010. Archived from [the original](http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/cy/index/about_ipcc/came_from.htm) on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Rich, Paul B. (1990). [*race and empire in British politics*](https://books.google.com/books?id=G144AAAAIAAJ&q=scarman+report). CUP Archive. pp. 212–213. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-38958-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-38958-7).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Beckford.2006_14-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Beckford.2006_14-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Beckford.2006_14-2) Beckford, Robert (2006). [*Jesus dub: theology, music and social change*](https://books.google.com/books?id=cBIeK5iGCJMC&q=scarman+report). Routledge. pp. 46–47. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-415-31019-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-415-31019-2).

## Further reading

- Hall, Stuart, "From Scarman to Stephen Lawrence", in *History Workshop Journal*, issue 48 (1999).

- [*The Scarman Report*.](https://books.google.com/books?id=inKwAAAAIAAJ&q=scarman+report)

- [Martin Barker and Anne Beezer](https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj2/1983/no2-018/barker-beezer.html) 'The Language of Racism - An examination of Lord Scarman's Report on the Brixton riots', *International Socialism* 18 (1983)

v t e Riots in England 12th–17th centuries 1189–1190 Massacres of the Jews The revolt of 1196 1355 St Scholastica Day riot 1381 Peasants' Revolt Treason Act 1381 1517 Evil May Day 1668 Bawdy House riots 18th century 1710 Sacheverell riots 1714 Coronation riots 1715 England riots Riot Act 1766 food riots 1766 Nottingham cheese riot 1768 Massacre of St George's Fields 1769 Spitalfield riots 1780 Gordon riots 1791 Priestley riots 1793 Bristol Bridge riot 1795 Revolt of the housewives 19th century 1809 Old Price riots 1816 Spa Fields riots 1816 Ely and Littleport riots 1819 Peterloo Massacre 1821 Cinderloo Uprising 1830 Swing riots Captain Swing 1831 reform riots 1831 Bristol riots 1832 Days of May 1838 Battle of Bossenden Wood 1842 Pottery Riots 1865 Leeds dripping riot 1866 Hyde Park demonstration 1887 Bloody Sunday 1896 Newlyn riots 20th century 1900s–1940s 1907 Brown Dog riots 1919 Epsom riot 1919 Battle of Bow Street 1919 Luton Peace Day riots 1932 Old Market riot (Bristol) 1932 National Hunger March 1936 Battle of Cable Street 1943 Battle of Bamber Bridge 1944 Park Street riot 1945 Aldershot riot 1950s–1970s 1958 Notting Hill race riots 1968 student riots 1970 Garden House riot 1974 Red Lion Square disorders 1975 Chapeltown riot 1977 Battle of Lewisham 1979 Death of Blair Peach 1980s 1980 St Pauls riot 1981 England riots 1981 Brixton riot 1981 Chapeltown riots 1981 Toxteth riots 1981 Moss Side riot 1981 Handsworth riots 1985 Handsworth riots 1985 Brixton riot 1985 Broadwater Farm riot Murder of Keith Blakelock 1987 Chapeltown riot 1989 Dewsbury riot 1990s 1990 Poll Tax riots 1990 Strangeways Prison riot 1991 Meadow Well riots 1991 Handsworth riots 1992 Hartcliffe riot (Bristol) 1993 Welling riots 1994 Criminal Justice Bill riot 1995 Manningham riot 1995 Marsh Farm riot 1995 Brixton riot 1996 Trafalgar Square riots 1999 Carnival Against Capital riot 21st century 2000s 2001 Bradford riots 2001 Oldham riots 2001 Harehills riot 2005 Birmingham riots 2009 G20 London summit protests Death of Ian Tomlinson 2009 Upton Park riot 2010s 2010 UK student protests 2011 Stokes Croft riot (Bristol) 2011 UK anti-austerity protests 2011 London anti-cuts protest 2011 England riots Killing of Mark Duggan House of Reeves fire Timeline 2020s George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom Actions against memorials in the United Kingdom during the George Floyd protests 2022 Leicester unrest 2024 Harehills riot 2024 United Kingdom riots Reports 1981 Scarman report Related Riots in Leeds Riots in London Riot Act Public Order Act 1986 Territorial Support Group

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Scarman Report](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarman_Report) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarman_Report?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.