ABSTRACT
Police officers’ perceptions of individuals, locations, and situations can significantly influence the quality of investigative interviews. These perceptions may inadvertently be coloured by well-known biases such as racism, sexism, and homophobia, which can impact their decision-making processes. In this chapter, the author delves into the perceptions of defence lawyers to examine whether they have observed any racial or prejudicial stereotypes that could lead police interviewers to display discriminatory behaviour when questioning Muslim suspects. The chapter examines interview transcripts conducted with 15 highly experienced defence lawyers who have represented suspects during police interviews in the United Kingdom. The analysis of transcripts revealed some troubling patterns. Approximately one-third of the legal representatives reported instances where White suspects were released, while charges were sought against Asian Muslim or Black suspects in what they considered comparable cases. Furthermore, a quarter of these lawyers mentioned instances of perceived hostility and discrimination exhibited by police interviewers towards their defendants of colour, attributing this hostility to their clients’ ethnic or religious backgrounds. More than half of the lawyers reported a sense that police officers treated suspects from disadvantaged areas, regardless of their ethnicity, with inferiority compared to those from more affluent areas. In summary, this chapter highlights how prejudicial stereotyping based on a suspect’s racial or religious background can markedly affect police officers’ attitudes towards suspects from stigmatised groups.
