"The police need an extraordinary superhero, once in a generation, to fight against racism"

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For the 30th anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the Mirror interviewed top lawyer Abimbola Johnson, charged with stamping out police racism. We asked him what needed to happen to force real change in British policing

The Macpherson inquiry into the handling of the murder of Stephen Lawrence saw the Met branded an 'institutional racist' in 1999 - it hasn't lost that tag today (

Image: METROPOLITAN POLICE/AFP via Gett)

The woman tasked with eradicating police racism has called out a lack of leadership to tackle the problem.

In an interview to mark the 30th anniversary of the murder of Stephen Lawrence, lawyer Abimbola Johnson denounced her reluctance to address deep-rooted issues of discrimination.

She told the Mirror: "I find it really frustrating because I can't really think of any other institution that has so clearly had the extent of the problems laid out for them, with the answers given to them, like the police do and yet he stumbles over the first hurdle which is just around vocabulary and approach.”

Top lawyer Abimbola Johnson says police chiefs 'stumble at the first hurdle' when they reject the term 'institutionally racist'

It comes after Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Home Secretary Suella Braverman both rejected Baroness Casey's use of the term 'institutional racism' in her damning review of the Metropolitan Police last month.

The Macpherson Inquiry into the handling of the murder of Stephen Lawrence saw the Met tagged with the same term in 1999.

But Stephen's mother, Baroness Lawrence, said this week: "In the last 30 years - in Stephen's case - nothing has really changed."

Ms Johnson was brought in to chair the Police Action Plan Against Racism Review Panel following the 2020 killing of George Floyd by US police.