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Improving Relationships with New and Emerging
Communities and the Police - By Michael Henry
The UK is often seen as a place that can provide
safety, shelter and security to those fleeing
dangerous environments from their home countries
as well as opportunities to improve the quality of
their lives. As patterns of migration change and
more people are finding themselves in the UK from
Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia
there is an increasing need for local policing to be
responsive to these communities.
Inspector Andy Townsend is responsible for the Hyson
Green / Forest Recreation area and he knows it is vital
to form relationships with all communities in the area.
Andy says – ‘The difficulty in this area is the dynamic
state of the communities, they are constantly changing
as people arrive in Nottingham. Some communities are so
new, so small that they do not have leaders - not even self-
elected leaders. In fact, I am not sure that they understand
that they are part of a community’.
Communities Inc’s dialogues to promote cohesion have
found that a lack of confidence in the police is fairly
common in newly arrived communities, particularly
where people have suffered police brutality in their
own countries. This needs to be addressed to ensure
local policing meets the needs of all communities.
For information on the work Communities Inc is doing
to build trust and relationships in communities, please
contact Michael Henry on 0115 964 8227 or email
[email protected]
A recent dialogue – held in Hyson Green.
Exploring and Improving BME Policing Experiences - By Abdoulie Jah
The Second Annual Conference on BME policing in
Nottinghamshire was held at the Afro Caribbean
National Artistic Centre (ACNA Centre) on 19th
March. It sought to identify the success which has
been achieved upon implementation of the 2013
report recommendations.
The conference was organised by the Nottinghamshire Police
and Crime Commissioner’s BME Steering Group in order to
update participants on current progress. It also sought to
provide an opportunity to obtain both a community and
stakeholders’ response to the work completed.
Following the research carried out in 2013, a number
of proposals were identified which would help police
to engage better with BME communities and other
stakeholders. This report summarised the findings of
a report carried out by Professor Cecil Wright and her
research team, which outlined 30 recommendations for
change. The Nottinghamshire PCC Paddy Tipping agreed
to review and implement the recommendations.
These recommendations sought to improved BME
victim satisfaction, increase BME representation within
the police force, improve BME proportionality with
stop search and help in development of an effective
BME community and IAG engagement.
The conference was informed that progress had been
made in respect to the recommendations and actions
continue to be taken towards meeting BME community
expectations. However, weaknesses were identified in
representations of BME within the police force but the
attendees were assured that this is an ongoing process.
The conference was facilitated by the chair of NPCC’s
BME Steering Group, Professor Cecile Wright. Rt. Hon
Keith Vaz MP and the PCC Paddy Tipping attended the
conference. The conference addressed issues relating
to Stop and Search, Youth and Engagement, Hate
Crime, Islamaphobia and Domestic abuse.
Other speakers included Sajid Mohammed,
Superintendent Paul Barrows, Jackie Lockhart of
Chat’Bout, Maxine Robinson of National Catholic
Safeguarding Commission and Superintendent Robyn
Williams of Metropolitan Police.