Number of Black officers in Bedfordshire Police 'doesn't represent our community' admits assistant chief constable

The percentage of Black officers in the Bedfordshire Police force hardly changed between 2010 and 2020, despite a large increase across the country, a meeting heard.

Between one and two per cent of officers in the county force were Black in 2010, the borough council’s annual scrutiny crime and disorder committee meeting was told.

“Just under one per cent were Black in 2020, so it didn’t change and it’s not moved,” according to Montell Neufville, who chairs the local joint protective services police scrutiny panel.

Based on his experience in Luton, he said: “The vast majority of young Black teenagers, male and female, distrust the police.”

Bedfordshire Police assistant chief constable Sharn Basra explained: “The world has changed considerably during the last 30 years.

“Yet we’ve made very little progress in dealing with the racist culture across our society and within policing. We recognise that.

“A police race action plan was devised to improve policing for Black people. There are areas we’ve made great progress in around minority groups. But clearly we’ve still failed regarding Black people.”

Four aspects of the plan are:

> communities being represented in policing, around recruitment, retention and progression;

> that Black people in communities are respected and treated in a fair and equitable way, relating to stop and search, use of force and arrest data;

> that these Black residents are routinely involved in the governance of policing from national to local level;

> and to ensure proper support is provided to them as victims of crime and as vulnerable groups.

“I’m the highest ranking Asian officer in Bedfordshire Police history,” added Mr Basra. “We’ve three chief inspectors of Asian background. In the last 30 years, the highest ranking Black officer was of inspector rank.

“The highest ranked Black officer now is a sergeant. The number of Black officers locally doesn’t represent our community.

“We’ve been identified as one of six ice breaker forces leading the way in the country. We need to work with our communities and see where we go next.”

Mr Neufville warned: “There are some outstanding officers at every rank level in Bedfordshire Police, but that’s not the experience of many people, particularly in the African and Caribbean community throughout our county.

“I was only interested in chairing the stop and search community scrutiny panel in 2015 if it was independent from the police. I tore up the template Bedfordshire Police gave me.

“I ensured our panel was Asian, Black, White, mixed ethnicity, and of every age. That took a battle. And a change to how officer performance is measured didn’t happen overnight.

“I stepped down from the panel in 2021. It’s now run by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office and highlighted as a UK best practice model.

“As part of the race action plan, we ask officers and leaders for data and to provide an explanation under community scrutiny panels. I’ve devised a tool to help the panel scrutinise how officers used force.

“In Bedfordshire, there are just over 1,400 officers. The vast majority do a good job. There are solutions, and the whole community has to work together to build trust and confidence.”