Culture change comes hard. Perhaps it should start with the selection of applicants to join a police service? Perhaps it should start on day one of recruit training? Is the training environment respectful? Is the locker room environment respectful? Has the training officer to whom the new recruit is assigned for street experience considered carefully how to demonstrate to the new officer unbiased treatment of the people they will encounter in the course of a shift?
Who can answer these questions?
#police#education#matters
The leader of Britain’s police chiefs’ organization, Gavin Stephens, who chairs the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), has acknowledged institutional racism in policing. He calls for a fundamental redesign of national policies to eliminate discrimination, emphasizing the need for involving black voices in policy design.
Stephens supports the idea that police officers should be licensed, similar to nurses or doctors. Despite progress since the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, some police leaders are slow to accept the scale of the challenges. The racial disparity in the use of force in England and Wales is highlighted, with Black people facing disproportionate stops, searches, and use of force
https://lnkd.in/eFXk2-MC
About two months ago I wrote the article on the effectiveness of policies to tackle racial disparity within UK Policing and I quoted;
‘The government must continue to evaluate the policies in question because they have significant implications for policing and society as a whole. The future of UK policing must prioritise equity, inclusion, and community-driven solutions if it is to be effective. Positive change will happen through working together and sharing commitments to justice, equality, and inclusion for a brighter future for all’.
You can read the article https://lnkd.in/eVirNtVt#PoliceReform#InstitutionalRacism#GavinStephens#NPCC#Discrimination#PolicingChallenges#BlackLivesMatter#RacialDisparity#PolicyRedesign#GuardianNews
Racism and Policing: Scarman, Macpherson, Lammy...Baroness Casey. Chief Gavin Stephens is not alone, so it's sad but predictable to see him being slated for sharing his view. This abiding issue will continue to taint policing until each of the 43 Forces can evidence that they have examined all their operational and personnel-promoting systems and publish the related results together with relevant action plans. Do it for the good Officers, the vast majority, who continue to be tarnished by the perception racism. Do it for the essential principles of boosting public confidence and ensuring continued consent. Thames Valley, Essex, Sussex, and other forces have started this work, and they should be applauded for their efforts.
Shine a light, make changes wherever needed, explain your intended actions, monitor and publish progress. Review and keep going. Publishing diverse faces on your recruitment adverts is not a viable or sustainable substitute for doing the hard work. Start today.
Vernal
https://lnkd.in/eJ7fb4F8
"When we discuss minorities and policing, the heart of the matter shifts from inquiring about the inherent legitimacy of police authority to the moot question of whether the police as an authority is perceived as legitimate by the minority communities?"
I am happy to share that I have recently co-authored an article with my fellow criminologists Daniella Ekmekjian and Gabriella E. where we have expressed our views on the above proposition delving into the challenges surrounding police legitimacy within minority communities, and examining the dynamics of trust, consent and respect in police–minority interactions.
Our idea is to identify the problem and propose some solutions for this legitimacy problem as faced in the society. Looking forward to having your opinions and feedback.
https://lnkd.in/gt3sxEBX
'Young people help shape Police Race Action Plan'
Read our new article about the dozens of young people who have had their say on the flagship plan to tackle racism and discrimination in policing as part of a major programme of work by the Police Race Action Plan.
Full article available here: https://hubs.la/Q02qKvdf0#EST#EmergencyServicesTimes
The author is the head of crime and justice for Policy Exchange and a former Detective Chief Inspector with the Metropolitan Police.
... “In recent years however, the decisions taken by policing’s most senior leaders’ have too often been found wanting. There are now countless examples of policing appearing to make different choices dependent on which group they are dealing with. These points extend wider than just public order policing. The police’s and social services’ failings in Rotherham – which led to the sexual abuse of many hundreds of children between the 1980s and 2013 – is perhaps one of the most egregious examples of a public service failure resulting from not acting ‘without fear or favour’…
“Whether … ‘two-tier’ policing definitively exists as a systemic issue across policing may well not yet have been proven – but we cannot meekly accept the Commissioner’s assurances that it does not exist. In so doing, by limiting the terms of the debate, is he now attempting to impose a ‘two-tier’ system for how we discuss policing? …
“Sir Mark should now focus on worrying about policing the streets of London – rather than policing the terms of debate.”
https://lnkd.in/evRQ_quB
Asking the questions that people don't want asked.
Supporting those that don't understand why those questions need to be asked.
...and most importantly, helping to find better and more inclusive solutions.
“The problems that we need to solve across policing are at the institutional level and they need institutional changes.
“Whether you look at the Macpherson definition in the Stephen Lawrence report, or whether you look at Louise Casey’s definition, my personal view is that they apply to policing.”
Gavin Stephens QPM Chief of National Police Chiefs’ Council has become the most senior serving leader to say that policing is institutionally racist, as he called for a fundamental redesign of national policies and practices to eliminate discrimination.
Police Scotland the second biggest force in the UK, as well as Avon and Somerset Police and the British Transport Police have accepted that the term applies to them. But the biggest three forces in England – the Metropolitan PoliceWest Midlands Police and Greater Manchester Police – all disagree.
The context behind all of this was laid to police leaders in 2022 as part of the first race action plan…
‼️“Black people are seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people and five times more likely to be subjected to the use of force …
‼️“10% of our recorded searches, 27% of use-of-force incidents and 35% of Taser incidents involved someone from a Black ethnic group.
‼️“The latest estimates suggest that only 3.5% of the population is Black.”
It is clear that, until the problem is fully accepted, progress will continue to be slow… AND we will continue to see the consequences of institutional racism played out more widely in all aspects of society.
#institutionalracism
Credits: Vikram Dodd The Guardian
We're currently promoting "The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death, and the Soul of Policing" by author and professor Michael Sierra-Arévalo, Ph.D., published by Columbia University Press. 🚔✍️
→ Synopsis:
From their first day in the academy, officers are trained to expect danger from everyone and everywhere. What Sierra-Arévalo sheds light on is three things behind the facade of this danger: 1. the private training companies profiting from a warrior-cop culture, 2. the racial aspects of tactical colorblindness, and 3. the uncertainty yet uneventfulness of police work on a daily basis. More "10-54s" and other mundane calls than serious crimes! 🐄
As Sierra-Arévalo says, "Policing is violent. And its violence is not distributed equally: stark racial disparities persist despite decades of efforts to address them. Amid public outcry and an ongoing crisis of police legitimacy, there is pressing need to understand not only how police perceive and use violence but also why.
With unprecedented access to three police departments and drawing on more than 100 interviews and 1,000 hours on patrol, The Danger Imperative provides vital insight into how police culture shapes officers’ perception and practice of violence. From the front seat of a patrol car, it shows how the institution of policing reinforces a cultural preoccupation with violence through academy training, departmental routines, powerful symbols, and officers’ street-level behavior.
This violence-centric culture makes no explicit mention of race, relying on the colorblind language of “threat” and “officer safety.” Nonetheless, existing patterns of systemic disadvantage funnel police hyperfocused on survival into poor minority neighborhoods. Without requiring individual bigotry, this combination of social structure, culture, and behavior perpetuates enduring inequalities in police violence.
A trailblazing, on-the-ground account of modern policing, this book shows that violence is the logical consequence of an institutional culture that privileges officer survival over public safety.
→ This book is set to be released on February 13, 2024! 📚
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#MichaelSierraArévalo#TheDangerImperative#ViolenceDeathandTheSoulOfPolicing#2024Books#ColumbiaUniversityPress#PoliceCulture#PolicingViolence#InstitutionalViolence#JusticeReform#PoliceCulture#PoliceViolence#PolicePerception#ThinBlueCulture#VoilentInequality#ColorBlindPolicing#ColorBlindCulture#PoliceReform#Sociologist#SocialScience#Criminology#Psychology#ViolenceAwareness#SystemicInequality#PossibilityOfViolence#TBR#NonFictionBook#AcademicBook#DebutBook#CoriolisCompany#CoriolisClient#DebutAuthor
Great to share the findings of our first report from the Minimum Policing Standard research with the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre.
'What do the public want from police? Towards a Minimum Policing Standard'
Research team: Professor Ben Bradford, UCL; Dr David Rowlands, University of Leeds; Dr Christine A. Weirich, University of Leeds; and Professor Adam Crawford, Universities of York and Leeds.
This study showed that there is considerable agreement among the public about what service police should provide and on the minimum standards to which police should adhere.
* People take a very process-based approach to questions about ‘what the police are for’– i.e. they are less exercised about the outcomes police might achieve than the processes through which policing is conducted.
* People feel very strongly that, as a desired minimum, police should be responsive, fair and respectful, as well as engaged and ‘present’.
* The public are clear on the distinctive need for police as a service to respond effectively in moments of danger, risk and uncertainty.
* Generic lists prioritising crimes are not seen as useful for thinking about how police should respond to and protect communities.
Many of you will have previously read my thoughts on the concept of institutional racism and discrimination when I wrote for Policing Insight on the subject during the summer. It features in the news again today.
I am not a believer in institutional culpability, but instead ascribe issues to leadership and individuals. A link to my article follows below in the comments section. Hope it is a worthwhile read and provides a reasoned counter perspective.
#police#leadership
According to a recent study from PERF, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, agencies reported a year-over-year increase in total sworn staffing. Responding agencies reported hiring more sworn officers in 2023 than in any of the previous four years. All this is good news for police agencies nationally. On top of that, agencies are in a position to develop young people from within their communities. Check out our latest newsletter and learn how you can grow your own cops using Peace Officer as a framework for policing! https://lnkd.in/e6PYFFkz
