Completely unfair for Chief Officers to consider labelling service racist

13 December 2021

Chief Constables in England and Wales are considering making a “public admission that their forces are institutionally racist”.

According to a report in the Guardian newspaper – which has not been challenged by Chief Officers – members of the National Police Chiefs’ Council began debating whether to put out such a declaration/label on policing at a meeting in Manchester last week.

More discussions will be held in January, and a decision from police chiefs is expected in February.

Neil Mennie, Chair of Kent Police Federation, said the “mass labelling” of colleagues in such a manner would be completely unfair.

He added: “The Police have been and will continue to be subject of never ending scrutiny and criticism from a host of different sources and groups. It is of course entirely fair to admit that policing gets things wrong on occasion and has an obligation to learn and improve itself.

“I am not sure that labelling policing as institutionally racist is a helpful starting point. Policing is not where it was in 1999 and I can only say that I hope that colleagues and I have a much better understanding and awareness of these issues.

“This mass labelling of hard-working police colleagues actually has an impact and adds a too a sense of frustration, sadness and disappointment.

“This has been seen recently with other distressing high-profile events and quite simply it’s not fair. It’s hard to say anything positive where the speaker is then subject to criticism and derision when speaking on topics such as this. We all recognise there is much more to do and we can always improve can we at least acknowledge that we are doing better.

“I am certain that our Federated colleagues will not be happy that our senior leaders will potentially place them all in this bracket.”

See the Guardian’s full report here https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/12/uk-police-leaders-debate-public-admission-institutional-racism