London needs more black police officers, says murdered sisters' mum

By Aurelia Foster, Alice Bhandhukravi and PA Media

BBC News

The mother of two murdered sisters has called for more black police officers to be deployed in London’s communities.

Mina Smallman was speaking at the launch of the Alliance for Police Accountability (APA), a group of bodies fighting racism and misogyny within the police.

Ms Smallman said action rather than words was needed to signify progress.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it was working with the APA and trying to recruit more diverse officers.

Ms Smallman’s daughters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry were murdered in a park in Wembley, north-west London, in June 2020.

Two former officers were later jailed for taking and sharing photos of their bodies on WhatsApp.

Ms Smallman, who is not involved directly with the APA, told the launch in London earlier: “I think they need to welcome police officers of colour into that work that they’re doing, because they know the communities and grew up with them.

“The police have got to stop thinking their main task is to cover up the misdemeanours. We know that there’s a problem, let us work with you and let us in.”

The Met Police recently announced an overhaul of the force with a £366m two-year scheme, dubbed A New Met for London. It has also urged more people from diverse backgrounds to apply to join the force, in order to improve trust.

However, she told the BBC she believed that while the plans were well-intended, they may “fall on deaf ears” unless the Met’s Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley admits the force is “institutionally racist”.

Ms Smallman has previously made repeated calls for Sir Mark to accept the term after Baroness Louise Casey’s year-long review into the force’s culture and standards found there was racism, misogyny, and homophobia at the heart of the force.

Sir Mark has admitted to mismanagement and cultural failings in the force but has refused to accept the word “institutional”, saying it has become politicised and is ambiguous, leading to criticism from Baroness Casey herself.

In response to Ms Smallman’s comments, Sir Mark said he understood her view, but stopped short of admitting the force was “institutionally racist”.

“I haven’t shirked away from anything that Baroness Casey has said.

“I completely accept her diagnosis and that’s why we’re on a big reform plan,” he said.

Ms Smallman recently said the force had “so much further to go” in rooting out racism and misogyny.

The force was first found to have been “institutionally racist” in 1999 by Sir William Macpherson, in a report commissioned after the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993.

Speaking about reports such as this and Baroness Casey’s, she told the APA conference: “Blood, sweat and tears is poured into them for them to eventually be put on the shelf and gather dust.”

She later told BBC London: “I want him [Sir Mark Rowley] to succeed, because if he doesn’t get it right this time, I don’t know that the police force as we know it will be able to continue,” Ms Smallman said.

Asked how she believed the Met could reform, she said: “By working with communities. I think this alliance will be the bridge to enable communities to regain trust in the police force”.

Two other UK police chiefs, of Police Scotland and Avon and Somerset Police, have recently described their own forces as being institutionally racist.

The APA says it will see black community organisations and individuals across the UK working collaboratively over an initial three-year period to fight racism, misogyny and homophobia, including through the construction of an anti-racist policing charter.

Lee Jasper, chairman of the APA, said: “We intend to scientifically scrutinise the implementation and effectiveness of these plans, and make sure our communities are aware of how well or not the Met is doing in relation to their rollout.”

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