Remembering Stephen Lawrence

On Tuesday 22 April, Norfolk Constabulary and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk hosted an event to mark Stephen Lawrence Day. Partners from across the county and members of black communities in Norfolk were invited to this event to continue the dialogue on how police relationships can be improved within the community.

Partners including, Norfolk County Council, the Youth Justice Service, New Routes, the NHS, GYROS and the Crown Prosecution Service listened to the work that is currently being conducted by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk’s Independent Advisory Group (IAG) and Norfolk Constabulary’s Public Stop & Search Scrutiny Panel. Both groups explained how they are helping to improve transparency with the police and to promote how communities can ‘have a seat at the table’ to help develop better working relationships. There was also a talk given by Paul Giannasi from the National Police Advisory for Hate Crime, detailing the concerns nationally in relation to hate crime and under reporting.

The event allowed for all attendees to participate in a tabletop exercise to discuss how improvements could be made in relation to disproportionality in the Criminal Justice System and how the police can increase trust and confidence when it comes to reporting crime amongst black communities.

Feedback from the event was positive and all attendees welcomed the opportunity to be part of such an important community conversation, acknowledging that such events can help shape future relationships and working partnerships with Norfolk Constabulary.

The Office of the Police Crime Commissioner for Norfolk and Norfolk Constabulary are looking to host similar ‘community conversation’ events in the future focusing on other seldom heard members of Norfolk communities.