MPA Deputy Chair speaks at final Lawrence Steering Group National Community Involvement Forum

25/04
31 March 2004

David Muir, deputy chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, will speak tonight at the last of a series of seven local community meetings hosted by the Lawrence Steering Group in cities throughout England and Wales.

Commenting on the meetings, David said:

“These meetings have been about giving local communities a voice to tell us whether they think enough progress has been made against the recommendations of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report.

“The recurrent themes of the meetings have been racist incidents, stop and search, institutional racism and issues of trust and confidence, all of which have an immediate impact on our communities.

“To highlight just one of these areas, racist incidents of any sort are not to be tolerated. The road shows have been a valuable way of finding out if the code of practice on the reporting and recording of racist incidents, published in May 2000, is being implemented effectively and making a real difference.

“All 70 recommendations of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry report aim to increase trust and confidence in policing amongst black and minority ethnic communities. While the vast majority of the recommendations have been implemented since the establishment of our Steering Group, there is still a need for greater efforts to be made to engage with these communities for whom trust and confidence remain elusive goals.”

Notes to editors

Tonight’s Lawrence Steering Group Community Involvement Forum is being held at Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, SW2 1RW, starting at 6.00pm.

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