On the 16th of June, 2023, Chief Constable Sarah Crew of the Avon & Somerset Police characterised the Avon & Somerset Police as “institutionally racist.” (Avon & Somerset Police, 2023) This conclusion was reached through tests and definitions established through decades of advocacy against racial discrimination in policing. This statement, having come from such a senior position, is a welcome addition to the fight against systemic racial injustice in the United Kingdom. BSWN looks forward to working with Chief Constable Crew on her future plans in rooting out racial injustice that has pervaded the Avon & Somerset Police Force. Alongside James Oluoch-Olunya, Avon & Somerset Police’s chair for the Race Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage Group, we recognise the importance of such an acknowledgement to have taken root so strongly in such a senior position within the force. Oluoch-Olunya states that “it’s an important acknowledgement of people’s lived experience and all of the pain and suffering – it is starting the conversation from an honest place and we can’t fix a problem unless we acknowledge it.” (BBC 2023) Indeed, such a sentiment was reflected clearly in Chief Constable Crew’s recent statement, whereby she stated:
“...failing to acknowledge these things is deeply disrespectful to those for whom it is a daily reality and a fact of life. It denies their experience, increases their sense of trauma and injustice and – and this is an absolutely critical point – it undermines any real chance of making progress or moving forward. It’s an old adage but we must first admit we have a problem before we can solve it.”
Taken from ‘Joining the Police’
Chief Constable Crew, in an interview with Chief Inspector Ronnie Lungu, outlines the work done through the taking-on of Desmond Brown’s recommendations laid out in the report ‘Identifying disproportionality in the Avon and Somerset Criminal Justice System.’ The Police Race Action Plan looks to implement deferred prosecution, an ‘explain and reform’ approach to Stop & Search, as well as a much-needed training programme for the support and protection of Black heritage victims of crime. Chief Constable Crew is ‘excited’ about the continued implementation of these actions, with a clear motivation to ensure that such actions do not lose their power simply because of a failure to acknowledge the systemic discrimination in Avon & Somerset Police. Certainly, this harkens us back to Baroness Casey’s Review, whereby “new leadership represent[s] a welcome change of tone and approach. However, deep-seated cultures need to be tackled in order for change to be sustained.” (Casey DBE CB 2023)
Whilst we welcome Chief Constable Crew’s statement, we are wary of overstating the strides taken by the Police Force in regard to anti-racism. Baroness Casey of Blackstock astutely notes that “many of the issues raised… are far from new…” with Sir William Macpherson’s seminal inquiry on the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence having been established in 1999, with many others raising similar concerns predating even the Macpherson Report (Casey DBE CB 2023). Indeed, discrimination is ‘baked’ into the policing system and it requires more than the power of words to root it out (Casey DBE CB 2023). Unfortunately, there remain groups of people within the Police Force that deny the lived experience of victims of racial discrimination at the hands of police officers; Avon & Somerset’s Police Federation dub it as “false narrative[s]”, “virtue signalling”, and “vexatious complaints” that lead to wasted time (BBC 2023). We wholeheartedly disagree with these sentiments and stand by Chief Constable Sarah Crews on her plans to create an anti-racist Avon & Somerset police force. She rightly repudiates these claims: "I need to be clear, I'm not talking about what's in the hearts and minds of the vast majority of people who work for the force. 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." Indeed, and in the words of the Chief Constable herself, “the evidence is undeniable – we are improving but it is not happening fast enough.” The admission of Avon & Somerset’s nature as institutionally racist is a welcome addition to racial justice, but there remains more work to be done.
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