Mark Morris is the Chair of West Yorkshire Police’s Independent Scrutiny and Advisory Group (ISaAG). The ISaAG is a group of community members who are there to scrutinise and advise the police. The ISaAG enables members of the public to hold West Yorkshire Police accountable for its promise to improve policing for Black People.
Mark, can you tell us a little about your background and what led you to become involved with West Yorkshire Police?
I have a background in trade unions. I was a Unite the Union workplace representative for many years, so I have experience in supporting members in the workplace, asking probing and challenging questions and scrutinising paperwork. I know that to have your voice heard and to influence change, you need a seat at the table. Being present during decision-making meetings is the most direct way of implementing change and is far more effective than standing outside the building and shouting; you need to be on the inside.
I grew up on a deprived council estate, and there’s no way of describing how much my upbringing still affects my view of the world today. I understand how some people make desperate decisions in difficult times, and I know that I could have easily ended up in very similar situations had I not had access to support and opportunities from family and work colleagues.
I became involved with the ISaAG after co-founding a Community Interest Company during lockdown. We created a support network and platform to support our local community to be more resilient and capable of withstanding the pressures of poor mental health, coping with the impacts of trauma and isolation.
When our attendees shared their stories, very few had anything positive to say about their experiences with the police. Out of concern for how the police would support the next generation of Black communities, and with an awareness that almost every type of organisation had finally accepted that anti-Black racism existed in society, we reached out to a senior police officer from West Yorkshire police to attend one of our meetings.
We intended to start a conversation about how we could ensure that our local service was also committed to embracing the need for change.
As an outcome, we began attending as many of the online district scrutiny panels as possible. In 2022, the ISaAG, which covered all five districts, was established, and I was elected as its Chair. This combined effort has given Black communities in the West Yorkshire region a louder voice.
We have made significant progress with the Police Race Action Plan and established strong connections within local policing, particularly with Detective Chief Superintendent Tanya Wilkins and Alison Lowe, the Deputy Mayor and Police and Crime Commissioner. Both have played a key role in supporting the ISaAG since day one, and both were repeat visitors as guest speakers on our community platform during the lockdown period, challenging us to be part of the change we wanted to see.
Did you have any reservations about working with the police?
Yes, based on my own previous experiences with the police, I’d never have thought I’d be as involved with the organisation as I am today.
My confidence in being involved is grounded in my belief that after more than seventy five years of the Windrush generation things won’t change unless we talk directly with the officers out on the streets and in cars—they’re the ones who really shape how we see the police and how they see people like me. I believe we have to challenge the stereotypes that destroy the assumption of innocence, which should be afforded to people regardless of the shade of skin colour.
I have had numerous difficult conversations with police officers about racism, and I have also witnessed a gradual shift in attitude. My first opinions of the disconnect between communities and police were based on an assumption that the main problem was blatant racism, but I have now concluded that some of the main issues are racial bias and lack of cultural understanding.
Most of the officers I speak with do understand—they recognise that what has happened in the past, and in some cases still happens, is wrong. The commitment to change is genuine from the Chief Constable and the Chief Officer Team, and I firmly believe it is possible to have a seismic shift in the way Black communities view policing. Racism is not tolerated in West Yorkshire police, and calling it out has become easier in the past five years. The ISaAG is a vehicle to ensure things keep moving forward and do not slide backwards because we hold them to account at a community level.
The police do need to exist. I don’t think there’s anyone in the Black community who would say the police need to disappear. During the summer riots last year, I am sure my community wanted and needed the police to do their job in preventing racism and violence from becoming an acceptable part of society. We can see that there was no one else, except the police, who were tasked with restoring the streets to safety for all our communities.
The ISaAG isn’t there to reduce police’s involvement in society, it’s there to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself when it comes to the policing of Black communities.
It’s not about the Black community wanting an easy ride or a free ticket. Black criminals need to be locked up, there’s no argument about that, but we also deserve to be treated fairly. I expect better service from the police than what I experienced, especially during my younger days in the 90’s.
The main reason I am still involved with the ISaAG is that the police have listened to our concerns. If we have made suggestions, they have acted on them, and where we have pushed back against ideas, they have heard and understood our point of view.
What does the ISaAG do?
Our role is to observe what the police do and provide input. We act as a critical friend, and offer genuine opinions without hesitation.
We review bodycam footage of interactions between the police and members of the public. We view that footage with a lived experience lens. This perspective enables us to express how we would feel if that member of the public were a member of our own family. We consider how they were treated, and if the officer responded to the situation in a way that is proportionate.
We also scrutinise disparities in data, initiate changes in policies and practices, review training programmes, and are involved in interviews for senior officers. Recently, we were on the interview panel for the Deputy Chief Constable.
I meet regularly with the Chief Constable and Police and Crime Commissioner to ensure the Police Race Action Plan is provided with suitable support and resources.
The ISaAG is now in its third year. This year, we aim to raise our profile and ensure the community is aware of how we can assist them. The ISaAG can act as an intermediary between members of the public and the police. If someone has a complaint about how they’ve been treated, or even just feedback about something they’ve witnessed, but they don’t want to speak to the police directly, they can come to us, and we can engage with the police on their behalf. The independence of the scrutiny panel amplifies the concerns that community members wish to raise and allows those at the top of the organisation to hear an unfiltered version of our concerns.
Who can join the ISaAG, or contact them for support?
Anyone can contact us for support, and we’ll never turn anyone away. If we’re not the right people to address your issue or complaint, we’ll put you in touch with the appropriate individuals to speak with.
We welcome people of all ages and backgrounds to join us on the ISaAG too. You don’t need any specific experience or prior knowledge of policing, just a passion to make a difference. It’s vital that we have a broad range of ages and backgrounds in the group. We meet every 6 weeks, but you don’t have to commit to attending every meeting, you can dictate the level of commitment that suits you. Anyone interested in joining the ISaAG can contact us at: raceactionplan@westyorkshire.police.uk
What’s one of your proudest achievements with the ISaAG?
We’ve already contributed to reducing the disproportionality measured in police data, but there’s still much to do, and I want this year to be a year of real action.
Last year, I attended a National Police Race Action Plan event to celebrate Black History Month. The title of the event was the “fierce urgency of now,” and I couldn’t agree more. The number of reports that have been written provides all the evidence needed to understand that change in policing is long overdue. From the Macpherson to Baroness Casey and all the reports published in between, I think we have been polite and patient for long enough.
People’s lives are impacted today, the ISaAG is tasked with ensuring that changes in attitude towards the Black communities of West Yorkshire begin immediately.
Our energy is focused on permanent changes that will be embedded in training and policies, which cannot be undone if the political attitude to Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion, or local police leadership, changes.
The ISaAG exists to improve trust and confidence in policing, not in the distant future. The priority is to act now and ensure there is no room for complacency from the leadership or the local neighbourhood police officers.
In terms of what’s been achieved so far, I’m most proud of the influence we had on the Cultural Awareness Training. Originally, the police wanted to do a short online training course covering Black culture and policing’s history with Black communities – pretty impossible to cover in two hours! We pushed back on that and helped shape what it is today – an in-person two-day training course where officers and staff hear directly from people with lived experience about how policing has impacted them. I’ve been on the training and seen for myself the real positive impact it’s having, and that wouldn’t have happened without the ISaAG.
We have also written the community voice section for a report to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), which will shape policies for Taser user training at the College of Policing with the sole objective of reducing disproportionality in the use of less lethal weapons.
We have many other areas I could mention, but our contribution to change is built on the work of previous generations, and we are proud to be playing our part today.