Minority groups in Nottinghamshire call for more involvement in police training events

Ms Cutland has been looking at equality and fairness issues across the county, meeting local groups including the Policing Equality and Fairness Commission at Nottingham City Council.

In the course of her meetings she has met representatives from disability and black and minority ethnic communities (BME) to mental health and carer organisations, all of whom have a common view that explaining the issues directly to officers delivering frontline services would improve both levels of understanding and the quality of service.

Nottinghamshire Police already works with some under-represented groups in parts of its diversity training for police officers and PCSOs. These include someone from the Muslim community, people with disabilities and someone from the transgender community. However, the force would welcome additional input.

The Deputy Commissioner said that she believes it would be beneficial to enable minority groups to offer their experiences at police training events, adding that the input from independent advisory groups was already making a valuable contribution.

“This approach would, I believe, lead to greater mutual understanding and valuable insights both for the officers responding to sensitive issues and for the minority groups who seek their help,” she said.

Among the sensitive issues raised with Ms Cutland included unintentional shoplifting and other problems faced by people with dementia. Carers wanted to engender greater awareness among the police of the problems involved, along with a greater level of understanding surrounding the role of the carers themselves.

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Paddy Tipping, will be attending the Police Disability Advisory Group later this week, when independent members of the public will discuss the issues faced by people with disabilities when in contact with the Police.