Admission is good, action is better
Independent Scrutiny & Oversight Board
The Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board for the Police Plan of Action on Inclusion and Race
Happy New Year! We hope you had a great time ushering in 2024.?
Last week, Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) which represents the 44 Police Forces in England and Wales, acknowledged that policing is institutionally racist.?
This is a significant admission by England and Wales’ most senior officer. A failure to publicly admit institutional racism by police continues to drive Black communities’ lack of trust in UK policing. As noted in our Annual Feedback Report, there is no uniform acceptance of the existence of institutional racism amongst police leadership, the public backlash felt by those who do accept it only fuels concerns that policing does not embrace or encourage serving officers and staff to speak openly about racism.?
As a Board, we consistently advocated for the Police’s acknowledgement of institutional racism as defined by the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report. Black communities want institutional racism to be confronted head-on in the Police Race Action Plan. For the Plan to achieve its goal of establishing an anti-racist police service, it must tackle the drivers of unfairness in policing. A focus on institutional racism will ensure that meaningful change is embedded into the fabric of policing and avoids superficial tick-box activity. It will mean examining legacy and structural changes.?
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Acknowledgment is only the initial step. As co-owners of the Police Race Action Plan, alongside the College of Policing, the NPCC now faces the responsibility of translating this acknowledgment into tangible action. It is crucial to move beyond words and actively implement measures that bring about real and lasting change.
Nick Glynn
Interim Chair, Independent Scrutiny & Oversight Board?
*This article first featured in the January edition of the Independent Scrutiny & Oversight Board newsletter. To subscribe, please register here.
Retired at home
1 年Why is their such a defensive and plausible deniability when these issues are raised. They should accept that areas have been highlighted to consider for improvement, review these issues and move forward. The trouble is that they take it personally because they realise they have collectively accepted working practices and behaviour and know that individuals have been affected. The denial and sometimes protracted processes used to try to avoid admission only makes the initial mistakes more serious as a result of the continued impact on the victims.
Director rba Equality and Diversity (semi retired) but mainly just me!
1 年I agree Nick....actions now please????????????