Gloucestershire Police chief pledges to tackle racism in force
The forum, which was jointly hosted by the independent Community Legitimacy Panel (CLP) and Gloucestershire Police, was attended by dozens of people from across the county, and held at the Church of God of Prophecy on Melbourne Street East.One of the questions posed was whether racism existed within the force - T/CC Blyth accepted that it did, based on conversations with colleagues, the National Black Police Association and members of the public.She added while the force still has a long way to go, tackling racism remained "an absolute priority".
Members of the public also claimed armed officers sometimes showed a "lack of respect" when responding to incidents.In response, T/CC Blyth said she would work hard to ensure all force employees carried out their work with respect, empathy and professionalism.Some of the people who attended the meeting praised the work of the Neighbourhood Policing Team for their efforts in building and maintaining "strong relationships with all communities".
The panel, which included other senior officers, was also told how victims of hate crime often lack the confidence their report would be investigated.T/CC Blyth said she recognised people sometimes find it difficult to report crimes for a variety of reasons, but wanted to reassure any victim of hate crime they would be taken seriously.
'Words and actions'
"It's so important for police services to listen to their communities, take on board any concerns they may have and positively respond with both words and actions to them," T/CC Blyth said. "If we don't, we will inevitably have a negative impact on levels of public trust and confidence in our service; in our ability to protect and keep people safe; to investigate any crimes people have had the misfortune of being victims of; and to act with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity."She was appointed to the role following the suspension of former Chief Constable Rod Hansen after allegations of gross misconduct.
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Whatever the verdict however, it seems unlikely that the combat that has dogged this family will cease any time soon.
