LOCAL MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has challenged an assertion by Avon and Somerset Police Chief Constable Sarah Crew that her force was ‘institutionally racist’.
Mr Liddell-Grainger said he had never encountered any allegations of racist behaviour or attitudes in more than 20 years representing part of the force area in Parliament.
He said Chief Constable Crew risked damaging the reputation of the force by arriving at her conclusions solely on the basis of statistical analysis.
Ms Crew examined her constabulary and its performance based on criteria set out by Baroness Casey in her review of the Metropolitan Police.
Based on those tests, Ms Crew found the force guilty of ‘institutional racism’.
She said earlier this week: “I must accept that the definition fits - it does for race.
“I think it is likely to for misogyny, homophobia, and disability as well, though the gaps in the data do not give us the sense of scale, impact, or certainty that we have for race.”
But the Police Federation said the picture painted from her investigation was false and that she needed to produce clear and relevant evidence to back her findings.
Now, Mr Liddell-Grainger, who represents West Somerset and will be the Conservative candidate for the new Tiverton and Minehead constituency taking in much of the area around Wellington, has added his voice to that call.
Mr Liddell-Grainger said: “Unless the chief constable can come up with specific instances of racism, then she is guilty of merely relying on a formula rather than the true facts.
“It is a very dangerous course to follow to call into question the integrity of a police force simply on the basis of a set of criteria drawn up in another arena completely.
“Unfortunately, any pronouncement from a chief constable carries some weight of authority so a lot of people are going to believe what she says and therefore the reputation of the force will be diminished in their eyes.
“If the chief constable says her own force is racist then the danger is this will impact on frontline officers’ dealings with the public.
“It could lead to heightened tensions in interactions with members of ethnic communities as well as more dissent, more resentment, and more confrontation from the less law-abiding sections of the population, and inevitably is going to make their job even more challenging.
“I do not know who suggested Ms Crew should subject her force to statistical scrutiny in this way but the picture that has emerged is very much at odds with the Avon and Somerset force I have been closely engaged with for more than two decades.
“I have no idea what good she expected to come of it, my view is that it has been a totally unnecessary and potentially extremely harmful exercise.”