Police boss says Avon and Somerset force is "institutionally racist"
Chief Constable Sarah Crew says she is in "no doubt"
Last updated 16th Jun 2023
The boss of Avon and Somerset Police says she is in "no doubt" that the force is institutionally racist.
Sarah Crew says she came to that conclusion after reflecting on recent reviews into the criminal justice system, and into the Baroness Casey review of the Met Police.
The review into the Met Police lists criteria on institutional racism, which CC Sarah Crew says, when applied to Avon and Somerset Police, there's "no doubt" the force is classed as institutionally racist.
What counts as institutional racism?
The Casey Review set four tests on institutional racism:
- There are racists and people with racist attitudes within the organisation.
- Staff and officers from Black heritage and ethnically / racially minoritised backgrounds experience racism at work and it is routinely ignored, dismissed, or not spoken about.
- Racism and racial bias are reinforced within systems.
- The force under-protects and over-polices Black heritage people.
The Chief Constable says "I must accept that the definition fits."
"I need to be clear: I’m not talking about what’s in the hearts and minds of most people who work for Avon and Somerset Police. This is about recognising the structural and institutional barriers that exist and which put people at a disadvantage in the way they interact with policing because of their race."
"Not being racist is no longer good enough, not for me and not for any of us. It is no longer okay to be a bystander and do nothing"
The Chief Constable says those officers who do demonstrate attitudes that are either racist or discriminatory, need to be rooted out - saying "they shouldn't be in policing and we don't want them here".
The Police say they're working to change things, including introducing an "explain and reform" approach to stop and search.
They say all officers are receiving regular training on how to conduct fair and respectful searches.
Deferred prosecution is also being looked into, to avoid more young people entering the criminal justice system.
The scheme allows people to avoid a criminal justice outcome for low level or first-time offences. These types of out of court disposals often require an admission of guilt to take part, which research has shown can be a barrier to young men of Black heritage, therefore leading to harsher and disproportionate criminal justice outcomes.
And finally, the police say supporting black victims of crime is also a priority.
The Force say they are "exploring ways to bring equity to the way victims of crime are treated, to address the disparity in the way that people of Black heritage experience crime."
In response, the Avon and Somerset Police Federation says the Chief Constable's comments are "not helpful" and will make the job of frontline officers more difficult.
Chair Mark Loker said: "Our position as a council has always been that we don't think it's helpful to label an organisation as institutionally racist.
"There are problems.
"We fully and wholly recognise that there are difficulties that some of the communities that we police have a lack of trust, a lack of confidence in our police service.
"That exists, we know that exists.
"What we need to do is we need to drive the change necessary."
Mr Loker added he believes there is "a better way" to solve the problem than by making such a statement.
"What our worry is, is our police officers have a hard enough job and there's now going to be a default position of, 'well you're racist, you work for a racist organisation.'"
"What it doesn't do is breed confidence.
"What it will do is breed fear."