'Police officers get information about black communities from negative media stereotypes'
31 March 2021, 16:14
President of the National Black Police Association talks to LBC
White police officers are getting information about black communities from negative media stereotypes, the President of the National Black Police Association tells LBC.
Andy George, the President of the National Black Police Association and an inspector in the PSNI told LBC's Shelagh Fogarty that the report would make the job of the police "a little more difficult."
He revealed in his experience that many police officers do not have a connection to ethnic minority communities.
Read more: 'Britain not rigged against ethnic minorities': landmark report sparks major backlash
Telling Shelagh many of these officers got their information about black communities from the media and negative stereotypes, he said race was a leading factor alongside issues such as poverty and family breakdown.
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The conversation comes after the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities published a landmark review into inequalities in Britain.
The report said geography, family influence, socio-economic background, culture and religion all impact life chances more than racism.
Claims that Britain is still institutionally racist are not borne out by the evidence, but overt racism remains, particularly online, the Commission said.
Its report, commissioned in the wake of last year's Black Lives Matter protests, said there have been improvements such as increasing diversity in elite professions and a shrinking ethnicity pay gap, although disparities remain.
It also found that children from many ethnic communities do as well or better than white pupils in compulsory education, with black Caribbean pupils the only group to perform less well.
And it said the pay gap between all ethnic minorities and the white majority population has shrunk to 2.3%, and is not significant for employees under 30.
