Volunteers wanted to scrutinise North Yorkshire Police
The force is looking for members to join their Stop and Search and Use of Force community review groups
People in North Yorkshire are being asked to volunteer their time to help scrutinise the police and hold them to account.
Members of two groups will be required to watch and have their say on real body-worn camera footage among other things to improve transparency, legitimacy and accountability.
It is part of 'Stop and Search' and 'Use of Force' community review groups at North Yorkshire Police.
The force says being part of these vital groups will mean:
• Learning about your rights and getting involved in how the police carry out Stop and Search and Use Force.
• Working around these three common goals:
o Check that police officers use their powers lawfully.
o Check that the powers are used fairly.
o Advise on public perception relating to Stop and Search and Use of Force.
• Looking at national and local issues related to Stop and Search and Use of Force
• Viewing real police body word videos and providing opinions on them
• Reviewing data to check for disproportionality
• Supporting police training and communications
Chief Inspector Fiona Willey said: "This was to help us to try and increase our legitimacy and build public confidence, certainly in particular for stop and search. We need to try and be representative of our communities and start to get them to hold the police to account, but actually through constructive criticism, to really listen to what the communities are really saying to us.
"The aim is to get a real understanding of the impact that stop and search has on individuals and how we can start to improve as a police service. It's similar to use of force as well as it's a very necessary power that we use but again, we have to make sure that when we're using that power that it's proportionate, necessary and it's justified.
"The police have no control over what's sent to community review groups, it's completely random. For example, we were looking at if there were any areas of disproportionality in terms of how we carry out stop and search and that's where the public and those groups can really help us have that independent view, and we can obviously be transparent in what we're doing for them to review that.
"In terms of use of force, we haven't had anywhere that felt the force was unnecessary and actually praised the officers in terms of their communication to individuals and their way to try and bring around reducing that conflict resolution. However, we've still got areas that we can learn on and building that empathy and emotional awareness of the people that we're dealing with.
"People will review documentation and body-worn video, so you'll actually see what it was like, what it looked like and what it felt like and give your views across. We'll take the feedback and then share that learning, the best practice if that's highlighted, and then ultimately we will feed back how we've moved forward and learned from the comments and constructive criticism that they've given us."
What time commitment would they need from you?
The group meets three to four times a year. You can join either your local district group or additional wider district groups.
Meetings are in person, virtual and blended (mix of in-person and virtual) and usually take place early evening.
You will also be supported with a two hour training workshop and shadowing opportunity at a Community Review Group.
If this sounds like something which you would like to know more about or get involved, email: info@northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk