NEWS “ NO, POLICE ARE NOT T


he much-publicised stop by police of Dawn Butler MP was just the latest in a list of recent incidents where policing has been placed under the spotlight and officers accused of racial profiling. Indeed, Andrew George, the interim president of the National Black Police Association, has argued that the stop was rooted in systemic racism. Yet some of the assertions made about the event have been inaccurate. The vehicle was not targeted because of the race of the occupants – they could not be seen through the tinted windows. It was stopped due to officers deploying natural curiosity and out of a desire to be proactive, complicated only by human error. The keys were removed from the ignition as a matter of precaution and safety – in too many cases vehicles have been used as weapons against officers. Video of the interaction, recorded by body-worn cameras, supports these facts and shows that the officers were professional and courteous. As a police officer who has taken an oath to serve and


protect without fear or favour, there can be nothing more destructive and damaging than being accused of something you have not done. We need only look at the impact protracted investigations have on the mental health and wellbeing of police officers to see this.


In this incident, the officers’ actions have been reviewed and investigated by their Force and they have been exonerated; but they continue to be judged and criticised. This is unfair.


I identify as mixed race and, although apartheid was


in its final throes when I was growing up in South Africa, I still experienced it. Since coming to the UK, I have never experienced racism from any of my colleagues. Does racism exist within policing? It exists in society and therefore in most, if not all, organisations, and, yes, it does exist within policing. The police service does not condone discriminatory behaviour in any guise and continues to work tirelessly to


INSTITUTIONALLY RACIST” PFEW National Vice-Chair Ché Donald defends policing and calls for greater efort to change public perception


identify these individuals and root them out. I do not personally take the view that policing is institutionally racist, yet I do believe that we should address the policies and procedures which create the perception that it is. This will need to be addressed by the leaders of policing as well as officers on the street. We also need to see cultural change, which can only come from the top. I have been fortunate enough to have worked with two home secretaries from a BAME background. Change is happening. Yet Britain has had only one black Chief Constable, Michael Fuller QPM, and he left the force 10 years ago. When BAME community members look to policing and particularly at police leaders, where do they see individuals who look like them and share their experiences? Similarly, where are the role models for young BAME officers? A decade since we last had a black Chief Constable is hardly an advertisement for progression. However, a service that is repeatedly being told it is institutionally racist simply isn’t going to attract diversity. I have witnessed many attempts


to improve representation at the highest levels and none has been a resounding success. All we have seen are endless rebrands of existing schemes, when we need something new or truly exceptional. Changing the perception of the police will be difficult but not impossible. However, it is something in which we all have a part to play, and that work needs to be happening now, not later.


Nick O’Time By Colin Whittock


OCTOBER 2020 | POLICE | 09


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