Kennedy welcomes police chiefs pledge to change “generations of history” between police and black communities

Cllr Paul Kennedy, Liberal Democrat PCC for Surrey welcomed the comments in the Guardian of Martin Hewitt, the Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) in recognising that the police's legitimacy is so low in black communities it is damaging the effectiveness of law enforcement.

Paul Kennedy said the start of solving any problem was to recognise what it was:

"It appears that Martin Hewitt has recognised that "the only conclusion you can draw is that we have to do things differently"."

"The police are the people and the people are the police". The police must represent our community and not just in numbers but also in culture."

In particular Paul Kennedy said he was concerned that

"black people are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched, according to the official figures. There were six stop and searches for every 1,000 white people, compared with 54 for every 1,000 black people."

"In addition, complaint and misconduct allegations against black, Asian and ethnic minority officers appeared to be disproportionately high".

Paul Kennedy concluded "There have been good intentions in the past that have not been matched by change. Let us hope this time change will be a reality."