Sam Kerr's arrest highlights the white supremacy, racism and misogyny of British policing 

As many readers will be aware, Chelsea star footballer Sam Kerr was recently found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer. Her supposed crime: calling a police officer “stupid and white”. 

What readers may be less aware of is the history and rationale behind the British hate crime legislation under which Kerr was (in my view, wrongly and maliciously) prosecuted.  

Kerr was charged under section 33 of the Crime and Disorder Act (1998), which introduced “racially aggravated” offences into British criminal law. The legislation was later amended after the Macpherson inquiry published its findings looking into the killing of Black British teenager Stephen Lawrence at the hands of five white vigilantes, and how the police had subsequently mishandled the murder investigation.

• Is UK’s housing system racist? Calls for inquiry as study reveals ethnic minorities pay more for less
• Football fans are fed up of racism, sexism and homophobia. Here’s how to kick it out for good
• How Newcastle United fans are tackling food poverty one match at a time: ‘There’s more need than ever’

The Macpherson inquiry found that the botched investigation was impacted by systemic racism within British policing. The inquiry’s recommendations led to the inclusion of provisions in the act specifically addressing hate crimes motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity. 

Systemic racism continues to plague British policing in ways which – as the term systemic conveys – are both routine and normalised within police workplace culture.  

Crucially for this publication, this includes the routine targeting and harassment of people experiencing homelessness, especially non-white homeless people, by the police. Freedom of Information requests into policing in England and Wales revealed more than 2,500 homeless people were arrested in England and Wales since 2019. Many ex-police officers and police whistleblowers have commented on the ways in which the police target Indigenous, Black and homeless people to inflate statistics and hit KPIs. 

Systemic misogyny and homophobia also remain rampant in British policing, as has been exhaustively documented in academic and policy research.  

In 2023, the Baroness Casey Review made a series of damning findings about the “systemic racism, sexism and homophobia” within the Metropolitan Police Service. 

Crucially here, the context for the Casey Review included the death of Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by white police officer Wayne Couzens. 

As many readers may be aware, Sam Kerr was trying to educate the police officers of this fact, as we can see in the CCTV footage of Kerr’s arrest which has now been publicly released. 

In my view at least, it’s not a crime to draw attention to someone’s ignorance or stupidity. This is especially true in the context of a victim of crime who is righteously calling out systemic racism, misogyny and homophobia in their dealings with police.  

And it’s not racist to draw attention to someone’s whiteness. Calling someone “white” isn’t an insult, and it can’t be deemed racist when it doesn’t have any institutional power behind it. On the other hand, non-white people are racialised daily, and white supremacy and white ideology is structured into public institutions at every level, especially the police. 

Sam Kerr’s experience is far from isolated. Though these laws are designed to protect racialised and minoritised people like Kerr, their weaponisation by police is, inexcusably, both daily and routine. British police and prosecutors recently weaponised these laws against Marieha Hussain, a 37-year-old teacher. Her “crime”? Holding a placard at a Free Palestine protest supposedly offending a very powerful man indeed, the British prime minister no less! 

So far mainstream media coverage of Kerr’s trial has failed to look at the systemic racism, misogyny and homophobia in British policing, or its deep links with slavery and settler colonialism. 

British policing itself was founded on slavery. The earliest and longest continuing police service as recognised by UNESCO is of course the Thames River Police. The Thames River Police were based at Wapping Steps and continue to house the Marine Unit of the Metropolitan Police to this day. The purpose of the police was to protect the property of the incredibly wealthy and powerful West India Committee of Plantation and Slave Owners who funded the service, at least initially, in its entirety. 

In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd, Sandra Bland, Kumanjayi Walker and countless others at the hands of white police officers, it is everyone’s responsibility to inform themselves of the racist and settler-colonial violence of British policing, and its ongoing global legacies. 

This must include paying attention to campaigns led by families who have lost loved ones at the hands of the police, who have the solutions on the prevention of police violence. In Australia, this includes the work of Dr Raylene Nixon, who is leading a campaign to ban the police chokehold (see #JusticeForStevieLee), the Day family who have led a campaign to decriminalise public drunkenness (see #JusticeForTanyaDay), the Dhadjowa Foundation, and the family and community of Kumanjayi Walker (see #JusticeForKumanjayiWalker) who are leading a campaign to disarm the police, among countless other examples. 

These Indigenous-led campaigns hold the solutions for ending the violence, whiteness and stupidity of policing.  

These campaigns will save lives, not just Indigenous and Black lives, but those of homeless people, LGBTQ+ people, and other racialised and minoritised people.  

Sam Kerr was wrongfully arrested and prosecuted under hate crime legislation designed to protect racialised and minoritised victims of crime. Her arrest by a white police officer is beyond the pale. It is an insult to racialised and minoritised people everywhere. 

Amanda Porter is an associate professor of criminal law and criminology in the school of social and political sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.