NCJ Number
204860
Date Published
2004
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the potential for management and manipulation within the process of official inquiry.
Abstract
The author contends that although official inquiries are promoted and defended by politicians and demanded by the public, they are open to manipulations when the circumstances surrounding the inquiry challenge the legitimacy and authority of state institutions. Several major inquiries into police and military interventions in Britain and the North of Ireland are reviewed to illustrate how the official inquiry process is open to manipulation. One case involved an inquiry into the 3 day civil disturbance in Brixton, London that was the culmination of persistent tension between the police and Black communities. The findings of the official inquiry found no fault with police procedures and found no racist policies within the police department. However, a review of this inquiry 2 years later exposed the extent to which the official inquiry had turned a blind eye to rampant racism within the police department. Another case involved a fatal crush at a sporting event that left 96 men, women, and children dead. Although the reason for the crush was due to a police officer opening the exit gate which created a mad rush, the official report blamed drunken and violent fans for knocking down the exit gate and causing the incident. The third case involved a shooting in a primary school that left 16 primary school students and their teacher dead. The gunman had been known to the police as a potential threat, yet no actions had ever been taken against him. The official inquiry refused to focus on why the police had never mounted a case against the gunman for past discretions. Official inquiries into the events in the North of Ireland in 1972 serve as another example of how state interests are protected and served at the expense of those involved in the events being investigated. Through an analysis of these cases, the author illustrates how the process of official inquiry is a political process heavily imbued with discretion and thus open to management and manipulation. References