Police Should Commission Research into Police-African and Ethnic Relationships

Date: 8 March 2016

“Police criticism and denial of Dr Camille Nakhid’s report into the experience of African youth with the Police is both disappointing and ill advised”, says Justice advocate and JustSpeak adviser Kim Workman. He was referring to AUT Professor Dr Camille Nakhid’s report ‘African Youth: Experience with the Police and the New Zealand Criminal Justice System’.

“When the initial police reaction is to question the methodology and content of a report, it leaves the public with the impression that they have something to hide” says Kim Workman. “Inviting a group that don’t trust the police to complain about incidents of abuse avoids the issue. If they don’t trust the police, they won’t complain.”

“The Police need to take a page out of their own book. In 1995, an internal Police report “Public Attitudes toward Policing” highlighted that only 34% of Māori had trust and confidence in the Police. Subsequent research results were a much needed reality check for the Police, who up to that time had no organisational understanding of Māori communities. The reports were a ‘warts and all’ account, and were consolidated into a single report produced by Te Puni Kokiri. This body of work set the platform from which police started the journey toward becoming more responsive.”

As we know, this journey is far from complete and the mass imprisonment of Māori has become normalised. The issue of police ethnic profiling, and police stops are becoming of increasing concern not only for African youth, but for Māori and Pacific youth as well. The Police have admitted unconscious bias in relation to Māori. The next step is to commission independent research into ethnic profiling across different groups, in order to establish the extent of the practice, and develop policies and processes to address the issue.

JustSpeak members attended the launch of Dr Camille Nakhid’s report in Auckland on 5 March. There were a number of Police there, and the event ended up being a discussion between the African community and the Police about what the Police are and are not doing to prevent discrimination. JustSpeak hopes that some of the positive energy that was in the room will be channeled into better engagement between Police and Auckland's African communities.

ENDS

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