Following the 1981 Brixton riot the Government commissioned a public inquiry into the riot headed by Lord Scarman . The subsequent Scarman report was published in November 1981 and found unquestionable evidence of the disproportionate and indiscriminate use of ' stop and search ' powers by the police against black people . The report made a number of recommendations and led to a new code for police behaviour in the '' Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 '' and the creation of an independent Police Complaints Authority in 1985 . The 1999 Macpherson Report , an investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence , found that recommendations of the 1981 Scarman report had been ignored and concluded that the police force was " institutionally racist "
institutionally racist
Institutional racism
Brixton