Lessons in black history for police rank and file

Anti-racist courses will be mandatory as officers are told not to be afraid of being labelled ‘woke’

ALL police officers will have to undergo mandatory lessons on black history and should be comfortable being labelled “woke” as part of an initiative aimed at tackling racism in the service.

The Police Race Action Plan, which is being launched today, aims to create an anti-racist police service that better serves black people across the country.

Chief constables have made a commitment to achieving “zero tolerance of racism” in their forces and have also pledged that every officer will undergo training and education to better understand the history of the black communities they police.

It is understood the courses will be tailored to specific areas with community representatives asked to help develop and structure the programmes.

As part of the radical action plan, chief constables have made a commitment to identifying and addressing the disproportionate use of force on black people, including stop and search and the discharge of tasers.

All forces across England and Wales will also be asked to explain policies or practices where racial disparity exists. If they are unable to justify the disparities they will have to overhaul the way they operate. Other proposals include developing strategies to make forces more representative by recruiting and retaining black officers and staff.

Police officers will be told not to be afraid of being labelled “woke”, with the barrister in charge of scrutinising the plan insisting: “I don’t really see how you can be anti-racist and not be comfortable with that terminology.”

The idea for the Race Action Plan was launched in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in the United States in 2020 and the wave of Black Lives Matter protests which followed. More than 20 years on from the publication of the Macpherson report into the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence, in which the Met was labelled “institutionally racist”, it is still felt the police are not doing enough to tackle inequalities.

Chief Constable Sir Dave Thompson, the senior officer in charge of the Race Action Plan, would not be drawn on whether he believed the police service was still institutionally racist.

He said: “Policing is more inclusive, more diverse and more reflective of our communities than we have ever been, but equally it still contains racism, discrimination and bias.” He added that while most officers would assert they would not tolerate racism, the service needed to go further to “build an actively anti-racist police service that reflects and protects all communities”.

Assistant Chief Constable Tyron Joyce, who is the highest-ranking black officer in the country, said the plan was about “effective delivery” of policing rather than being woke or politically correct. He said: “It is entirely reasonable to be cynical or concerned that this is just another plan but when you do actually see the actions they are all quite smart.”

He added: “How can it be ‘woke’ to reduce the number of people who are seriously injured? How can it be ‘woke’ to be more legitimate and more effective in how we stop and search people, and how can it be ‘woke’ if all of that results in people feeling safer?”

Abimbola Johnson, chairman of the Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board, which will monitor the rollout of the plan, said: “Being woke just means being alert to injustice in society, and in this particular scenario it also means around racism. So frankly if this plan is labelled as woke it means it is going in the right direction. I don’t really see how you can be anti-racist and not be comfortable with that terminology.”

‘Policing is more reflective of our communities than we have ever been, but equally it still contains racism’