'Tough conversations' help improve police diversity

Police officers from minority ethnic backgrounds have held an open community meeting to try and address under-representation in the force.

Members of the Suffolk Ethnic Police Association (SEPA) spoke with a group in Ipswich at the Hive Community Centre on Norwich Road, one of the town's most diverse areas.

Suffolk Police has more than 1,200 officers, of which fewer than 40 are either black, Asian or mixed heritage.

Creative entrepreneur Donovan Charles Lansiquot attended the meeting and said: "I think ethnic minority groups definitely need to touch base with the police so we can gain a stronger understanding of how we can actually develop a better community."

He added: "We need to learn how to do that and have these tough conversations."

Andy George, chair of the National Black Police Association, came to the meeting to support the Suffolk group.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: "Whenever you see an officer of colour in uniform, for the community, they suddenly feel a connection to the police that maybe wasn't there before.

"I have had lots of racism within policing, but it's still a career that I would do.

"I joined policing to help other people, having been bullied at school, having people racially abuse me when I was younger.

"Unfortunately [policing] tends to attract other people that maybe the uniform amplifies some of the negative qualities that they have.

"But I would certainly do it again and I think more and more people like me, like our membership, needs to be within policing and to really change the fabric and culture within policing."

The group discussed issues of trust in the police, the lack of youth centres and how to show officers from minority backgrounds as role models, as well as broader challenges of funding for community work, the pressure on young people to join gangs and issues of racism within the police overall.

Jason Thomas, chair of SEPA, said it was "really positive, with lots of inspiration from the community".

"We're coming back in three months, just to have an interim talk about what's happened, then in six months time we're coming back, we'll do it again and hopefully it'll be bigger," he said.

"Then this will be taken across to other towns in Suffolk with SEPA continuing to bridge that gap with the community."

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