EQUALITY


RACE, RELIGION AND BELIEF IN THE SPOTLIGHT


PFEW’s first Race, Religion and Belief Seminar took place at our Leatherhead HQ and featured a diverse range of speakers over two days


Group Chair Paul Odle co-organised the two-day event alongside Equality Lead Ian Sanders and National Board member Zac Mader. He highlighted the progress made by the group alongside key stakeholders including HMICFRS, IOPC and NPCC.


Abimbola Johnson, the Chair of the Independent Scrutiny and Oversight board, led a session about her role and said that solutions for issues around race and ethnicity could only be solved by the entire service. She highlighted it has been two decades since the Macpherson inquiry, and institutional racism was still a difficult topic: “I’m really passionate about creating lasting changes in the space that I occupy. But I don’t think it’s any coincidence that given my background, I’m often one of the very few black people in any room.” She discussed the 2020 murder of George Floyd and how the incident changed how she discussed race: “I was using a lot of muted language. I spoke about diversity and inclusion. I would only speak openly about race with my black colleagues - but when I was in mixed company, sometimes I found myself changing my language, to make others feel comfortable. “2020 was an opportunity to bring those issues to the foreground – it meant the conversation was more confrontational, the discussion moved in the right direction, in a way it hadn’t before.”


30 | POLICE | APRIL 2022


She added that to see change, “we need


to talk about racism, not just racial disparity. “We need to talk about the experiences


of black people and not this mythical BAME community that doesn’t actually exist. We need to dig into the language and the vocabulary of what we are discussing, so we can have honest conversations about how to move things forward.”


IOPC Discrimination Lead and IOPC’s Regional Director for London, Sal Naseem, said he was motivated to ensure demonstrable action was taken against the difficult issues blighting policing. He described the IOPC’s focus on racial discrimination and how the organisation was examining the lack of trust among black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities in policing. Mr Naseem discussed how contentious issues related directly to police officers from those communities, and spoke about his experience of diversity and inclusion growing up in a Scottish town. On workplace “banter,” he said the inappropriate use of messaging apps “reverberated in the media” confirming fears of communities and groups that feel “the most distanced from policing.” The Discrimination Lead revealed his motivation for taking on the difficult role: “Why do I do it? Because I’m a south Asian male who’s come through a lot of open racism and dealt with some difficult stuff growing up. So, I’ve got a seat at the table. “What do I do when I’ve got a seat at the


table? I want to try my best to try and drive change through the organisation that I work with.”


National Vice-Chair Ché Donald highlighted that “everyone in policing has a responsibility from the bottom to the top, to deal with issues around race, religion and belief.”


He said that policing is “under the spotlight for a variety of issues”, adding that it is vital to discuss tough subjects with everyone having a part to play: “We have to have the machinery and processes in place to allow people to have the moral courage to step forward and challenge.” Chris Excell from the Metropolitan


Police’s Black Police Association said that if the support mechanism won’t let people to step forward, there is no confidence in processes and policies: “You are ostracised by your colleagues and your organisation, I’ve been a rep many times for those challenging behaviour. The individuals don’t often get supported.” Other speakers included PFEW’s Research Team manager Dr Fran Boag- Munroe and members of PFEW’s in- house legal team.


Mr Odle said organisers had learned valuable lessons from the seminar: “It was really encouraging to see so many colleagues from diverse backgrounds discussing difficult topics candidly and honestly. Our job now in the group is to carefully consider these many opinions and take action points forward.”


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