Federation reacts as Chief Constables in England and Wales consider 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.

Steve Kent, Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation, strongly rejected any notion that officers are institutionally racist.

He said: “We as an organisation are proactive in trying to encourage potential candidates from BAME backgrounds to apply to join policing in South Yorkshire Police and to this end we actually have positive action officers looking at this issue as one of the many ways to make SYP more reflective of its diverse society.

“With respects to officers being institutionally racist, I strongly reject this notion and find it insulting to the hard work and impossible positions our officers find themselves in. Our officers are not racist and they carry out their duties without fear and favour and I would expect and encourage them to continue to do so.

“If there are societal issues that mean that certain parts of our society are sadly disproportionately more likely to be involved in crime, then that is an issue for society and the root causes need to be looked at and challenged.

“It is the role of the police to enforce the law and to deal with criminality.”

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