THE Chair of South Yorkshire Police Federation has said he doesn\u2019t think policing as a whole is institutionally racist, following the publication of Baroness Casey\u2019s review into the Metropolitan Police Service.<\/p>\n
This comes after the national Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), Steve Hartshorn, said in an interview with The Guardian<\/em> that he accepted the Met was institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic, stressing that was his \u201cpersonal view\u201d.<\/p>\n South Yorkshire Police Federation Chair Steve Kent disagreed with the national Chair, saying: \u201cI will not accept the generic term that the police is institutionally racist because, quite frankly, I don\u2019t think we are.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Institutional racism\u2019 is a really complex term. We have the firm opinion that there may be inequality in society, but we as a police service, and certainly South Yorkshire Police, do not accept that we are an outlier in this.<\/p>\n \u201cAll this does is create an issue with public trust, and it goes against some really good work that the force is doing in terms of positive action, recruiting from different backgrounds, and community relations.<\/p>\n \u201cI actually think policing, when you look at some aspects of what we do, is ahead of some other organisations. Society needs to improve \u2013 and I don\u2019t think anybody doubts that, in terms of making sure equality is at the forefront. But we as a police service are trying to drive this within our own environment, more than most.\u201d<\/p>\n Steve Kent added that some people might misunderstand the term and take \u201cinstitutional racism\u201d to mean that every police officer is racist. He said: \u201cThat is simply not acceptable, and not fair to our officers on the ground \u2013 it really hinders the support they get from the public.\u201d<\/p>\n