Police 'too positive' on race relations
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.AVON AND Somerset Police was criticised yesterday for painting a misleadingly rosy picture of community relations in its evidence to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry.
Officers based in inner-city Bristol told the inquiry team that police had made great strides towards regaining the confidence of black and Asian residents in neighbourhoods such as St Paul's, scene of two riots in the 1980s.
But Peter Courtier, director of the Bristol Race Equality Council, told Sir William Macpherson, chairman of the inquiry: "You are only hearing from one police district. We don't believe that it reflects the face of the constabulary as a whole."
Superintendent David Warren, commander of Central Bristol District, told the public meeting in Bristol - the latest in a series held by the inquiry around the country - that relations between police and minority ethnic communities had been transformed over the past two decades.
Anti-police riots in St Paul's in 1980 were the first of a series that erupted around the country. By 1990, the neighbourhood had become a virtual no-go area for police and 2 per cent of all the violent robberies in the country were carried out in two streets there.
Supt Warren said a new style of community-based policing introduced in the 1990s had been accompanied by a drop in crime.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments