The proper policing of racism

1 September 2006

In 1856 an English army officer, applying for the post of Chief Constable of Caernarfonshire, proclaimed his suitability for the job ‘as in India he had served against the Hill Tribes of the Western Frontier’.  Only a few decades ago the police in north Wales were regarded by many as an English-speaking army of occupation, enjoying neither the confidence nor empathy of the local population.  My own previous experience policing the hill tribes of Greater Manchester has taught me that sensitivity to the needs and fears of disparate communities is prerequisite to the rule of law and the confidence of the public.  The 1980s riots in Brixton and Toxteth serve as a stark reminder of the consequences of neglecting that attention.

The current government has, quite properly in my view, sought to address racial tensions both through legislation and initiatives such as the Respect agenda.  In support, the police service in England and Wales has a pivotal role to play in law enforcement and community development.  In particular, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 places a statutory duty on the Police to eliminate unlawful discrimination, ensure equal opportunities and to promote good race relations.

I therefore police community relations in north Wales in the context of, on the one hand, a history of national oppression and, on the other, current political and legal imperatives.  This brings challenges peculiar to the locality.  In areas where only 20 years ago, holiday cottages were being burned to the ground, English-Welsh antipathy persists.  Offences of disorder, damage and violence inspired by this hatred occur regularly.  There are Welsh speaking communities in my area which, seeing the disappearance of jobs, affordable homes and the erosion of culture and language, consider themselves under threat.  They feel every bit as disadvantaged and vulnerable as the isolated Asian enclaves in our major cities or the long-standing white neighbourhoods ‘swamped’ by immigrants.

The only proper policing response to such tensions are concern and action with both impartiality and proportionality – and whatever the origin of the threat.  I am therefore duty and morally bound to investigate genuine allegations of anti-Welsh racism.  Moreover, I think I am entitled to do so without the petulant interference of peers and spin doctors.  The Welsh are afforded the same protection under the law as Pakistanis, Chinese, Moslems and Jews; all of whom seem recently to have escaped becoming the acrid butt of quiz-show hosts and columnists.

Liberty is hard won, as the thousand year old castles of north Wales testify.  The determined investigation of race hate crime is in the cause of supporting liberty, not of threatening it.  The self-styled proclaimers of ‘common sense’ who suggest otherwise are often concealing their own bigotry or are simply floating in an opaque Home Counties bubble.  The troubles in Northern Ireland are testimony to the complexities of United Kingdom society, and the crucial position of the police in preserving its equilibrium.  It is a lesson of history that tensions, like bombs, can explode in the most unexpected and dramatic way.  In policing, as in medicine, prevention is surely better than cure.  That is why North Wales Police will continue to investigate all substantial complaints of racism, without fear or favour.  We will do our duty, proudly.