Black Lives Matter leader disagrees with Derbyshire’s police and crime chief's claim that “being Black doesn’t mean being vulnerable”

Angelique Foster, Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, made the comment in a council meeting hosted at County Hall last week.

Professor Cecile Wright, chair of Derby Black Lives Matter, is concerned by Ms Foster’s comments and is seeking a meeting with the commissioner.

Ms Foster, a Conservative who was elected last May, was asked for her response to a recent report on the Met Police’s strip-search of a 15-year-old Black girl in London.

Child Q, as the girl has been named to hide her identity, was strip-searched without her parents’ knowledge and was asked to remove her sanitary towel.

The report, from the local Child Safeguarding Practice Review, said racism was “likely a factor”.

It has started a further conversation on both racism and the treatment of Black people specifically by the police, and on strip-search policies – and how both relate to each other.

During last week’s Derbyshire Police and Crime Panel meeting, Ms Foster was asked for her response to the report and on what she is doing to address concerns about racism.

Ms Foster, who is also a Derbyshire county councillor, said: “Being Black doesn’t mean being vulnerable. Putting stories together to try and present a narrative is not helpful.

“The incident in London is shocking and completely unacceptable. The chief constable is working on all forms of discrimination.

“We haven’t had those issues in Derbyshire and I have spoken to the chief constable and she is tackling the issues.

“If any officers were found doing this locally they would be dealt with accordingly.”

Dr Stephen Handsley, a member of the panel who had asked the questions, responded: “None of us in this room are Black and how can we say what it is like to be Black. We will have to agree to disagree that being Black is being vulnerable.”

Ms Foster said: “Everyone should be protected, regardless of your background, your gender, your race, you deserve the best from your police force.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Professor Cecile Wright, chair of Derby Black Lives Matter for her thoughts on Ms Foster’s comments.

Professor Wright, who led a march through Derby in June 2020, said: “In a society without racism ‘being Black does not mean being vulnerable’. However, any racial minority in a society with racism becomes vulnerable.

“Stephen Lawrence (a Black teenager killed in a racist attack in South London in 1993) was murdered because he was Black and therefore vulnerable.

“It was Lord MacPherson who referred to the Metropolitan Police as being institutionally racist, as a result of his investigation (into the Stephen Lawrence murder and wider criminal justice issues).

“The actions of the Metropolitan police in strip searching a Black girl confirm for many that it remains institutionally racist.

“Black children in schools are four times more likely to be excluded. Thus, this makes them vulnerable to being recruited by drug gangs.

“Black men are far more vulnerable to stop and search than other groups.

“So, being Black in Britain does make you more vulnerable.”

Professor Wright claimed that a “plethora” of reports on the issues of race and the criminal justice system show that the Black community are disproportionately stopped for stop and search; are fearful of the police; that the Black community feels their issues are not taken seriously by the police, and that policing towards the Black community “tends to be negative”.

“I would say there is indeed a concerning situation, that is what I would conclude,” said Professor Wright.

She called the treatment of Child Q “barbaric” and represented “degrading dehumanisation” and shone light on many issues relating to Black people and the criminal justice system.

Professor Wright said: “As the chair of Derby Black Lives Matter, we are extremely disturbed by what has happened to Child Q and her family.”

She said the group would like a meeting with Derbyshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner to discuss Child Q and wider issues affecting the county and city and claim they have not been able to secure one in the year Ms Foster has been in post.

The Derby Area Trades Council and Derby Black Lives Matter are holding a protest in solidarity with Child Q and her family outside the Derby Council House on Saturday, March 26 from 12.30pm.