It has now been six months since we launched our Police Race Action Plan – a plan to improve policing for Black people in West Yorkshire.
We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but we know we’ve still got a long way to go, and we’re not about to lose momentum. Improving policing for Black people and building back the trust and confidence of Black communities, after years of Black people being over-policed and under-protected, is a long-term aim which we are committed to achieving through real change and action.
We’ve listened to what’s most important to Black people, such as a focus on working with young people, and changed our plan so that it better meets the needs of Black communities.
The below provides an update on some of the key actions we’ve taken within the past three months. We’ll be providing an update on our progress of the Police Race Action Plan every three months until November 2024, after which time progress will be reported every six months.
February 2024-April 2024 update
Workstream one: Ensure Black communities feel represented by a police service which is representative of the community it serves.
- Our Black Heritage Advisory Group has reviewed the results from a national survey called ‘Our Black Workforce’ which explored challenges faced by Black Police Officers and Police Staff in the UK. They have discussed how the findings align with challenges faced by Officers and Staff within West Yorkshire Police and have developed an action plan for the organisation to address the priority issues. We are prioritising our training course about Black culture and the history of Black people, so that all of our Officers and
- Staff will receive the training within two years, instead of the initial target completion date of three years.
Workstream two: Black people are not over-policed, by a police service that is fair, respectful, and equitable in its actions.
- Traffic Officers are trialling a new app which allows them to record all vehicle stops, and the ethnicity of people involved in a road traffic stop. This data will enable us to identify trends in traffic stops and address any racial disparities which become evident.
- We have updated our Stop and Search training to include videos of members of the Black community sharing their experience of what it’s like to be stopped and searched, and how it made them feel.
Workstream three: Black people are involved, with a police service which routinely engages the Black community in its decision-making processes.
- We’ve listened to feedback about our Police Race Action Plan and have adapted the plan so that it better meets the needs of the Black community, with more of a focus on working with young Black people.
- We know that we need to better explain our complaints process. We’ve taken feedback from the community and are developing informative literature which better explains how to make a complaint to West Yorkshire Police, and the process for how the complaint will be investigated fairly and without bias.
Workstream four: Black people are protected, by a police service which is anti-racist and which seeks justice for Black victims.
- A missing Black person is more likely to be graded as a ‘medium risk’, whereas a missing white person in the same circumstances would be graded as high risk. We also know that missing people who are Black are more likely to return of their own accord than to be found by the police. We’re analysing this data to better understand the disparity which exists,
and to help improve our service to missing Black people and their families.
What’s next? Over the next three months our focus will be to work more closely with young people to understand their views on the Police Race Action Plan. This includes co-producing an engagement plan focusing on what is most important to Black Heritage Communities in terms of safety, inclusivity and having a voice and influence in the governance of policing.
If you require further details about the plan, are interested in joining our Independent Scrutiny and Advisory Group (ISAAG), or require copies of printed materials to help promote and explain the Police Race Action Plan to communities then please visit www.westyorkshire.police.uk/race-action-plan