This chapter explores the processes by which relations can break down between police and minority groups, especially those from visible ethnic minority groups. It presents evidence about the processes through which trust in the police can slip away if stereotyping and racial discrimination go unaddressed. The chapter devotes most attention to the policing of ethnic minority groups, in particular, to visible ethnic minority groups. However, the analysis is applicable to many other minority groups that are socially marginalised and exposed to routine discrimination. As in Chapter Three, we start with an extract from a qualitative study of policing (see Box 4.1). This extract illustrates the complexity of policing in settings where there is a long history of mistrust between the police and minority groups.

The policing of visible ethnic minority groups

Western industrialised democracies have a depressing track record in the policing of ethnic minority groups, in particular, visible ethnic minority groups. I use the term ‘visible ethnic minority group’ to be broadly equivalent to the various terms that are used in the UK to refer to ‘non-white’ groups, such as ‘people of colour’, ‘black and minority ethnic’ (BME) groups or ‘black, Asian and minority ethnic’ (BAME) groups. The reasons for using this terminology are twofold: first, I am drawing, in part, on international comparative research and UK terminology may not make sense for other countries; and, second, in understanding police treatment of different groups, ascription of an individual's ethnicity by the police and other organisations is more significant than that person's self-ascription – and the former is necessarily, in most cases, based largely on visual cues.