Deputy Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Marianne Kimani hosted an event with Police, Fire and Crime, Commissioner Danielle Stone and Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet for Black church leaders from across Northamptonshire.
A round table event was held to discuss partnerships, representation, and trust and confidence in policing.
In a new approach, Marianne brought this group together. She said: “I want to hear their thoughts and opinions about our Police and Fire Services and hear their ideas for how we can work better together to make our communities feel safe.
“I am pleased to bring this group of leaders together. They are influential within their communities. With them we can create a partnership to build trust and confidence in policing.
“We need to recruit new officers and staff members who represent and look like the community we are serving. These connections will help us build new relationships and help us recruit from a new pool of people who may not have trusted us before.
“It is important that Black communities have positive interactions with the police and not just when things go wrong. This meeting is just the beginning.”
PFCC Danielle Stone spoke about her new Safe and Sound plan and her mission to make the county safer.
She encouraged the leaders to apply for her new grants scheme launching in May. This is for projects that help deliver the Safe and Sound plan.
Danielle said: “I am on a mission to make Northamptonshire safer, and to make people feel safer. I am in a position to be able to make positive changes to our county, but to do so, I need the support of communities like our churches.
“I am pleased to meet a community I have not yet connected with and find out how we can help them feel safer and heard.
“Church leaders are offering communities a safe place, a place where they can belong. I am hopeful that these churches will apply for my new grants scheme so they can help provide even more valuable services to the Black community.”
Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet spoke to the group about trust in the police within the Black community, and how he wants to work with the churches to begin building that relationship. He heard suggestions on how improvements could be made to connecting with the community, such as more positive police presence.
He said: “I know trust in the police is at its lowest. I am determined to listen to our Black community and hear what they need from us to ensure that every member of our county feels safe and that they can come to us.
“I am determined to increase diversity across all police staff so that communities feel represented by their police force.
“This meeting was a fantastic start in working together to make this county better for everyone and I welcome all of their feedback and suggestions.”
The round table concluded with an opportunity for the church leaders to make suggestions of things they would like Northamptonshire Police to start, stop and continue doing.
Comments included increasing a positive presence in churches and communities, more education on the law for young people, and reviewing stop and search procedures.
Allison Shefford, from Churches Together Shire and Soke Northamptonshire, an organisation that connects churches across the county, was pleased to have been invited to the event and positive about the future.
She said: “It is so important that as churches and community leaders we come together to share our voices as one unit and make all our communities better.
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to do that today and to engage with other churches and meet with the Commissioners and Chief Constable. I look forward to meeting again and hearing even more insights from the other churches.”
