National Women of Colour in Policing

In just 40 days we will be ready to welcome our delegates to the beautiful city of Oxford for the start of #SWiP24 - Tickets are selling fast so make sure you have secured yours to be part of what is set to be a fantastic three days! SWiP24 aims to deliver a high quality, engaging and interactive conference - utilising platforms such as Slido to encourage audience participation throughout. As well as collaborating with colleagues of different genders and cultures in order to aid our theme 'Leadership of the Future', the conference welcomes delegates with diverse backgrounds to further this collaboration and conversation 💜 💚 🎟️ For tickets visit https://lnkd.in/exDHUBvE 🧾 Check out our jam packed conference programme here 👉 https://lnkd.in/esjZ2yBq Thames Valley Police

The police and fire service have taken a united stance against racism by appearing in a powerful video together. More than 20 representatives from the region’s emergency services recited lines from poem ‘I’m not racist but’ as part of the project. Written by Nottinghamshire Police’s PC Saara Nawaz, the spoken word piece aims to raise awareness about the struggles people from ethnic minority backgrounds face. The force-led Women of Colour in Policing movement helped arrange the video, which features police officers from a range of different ranks – including Chief Constable Kate Meynell. Police staff and representatives from both Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, as well as Derbyshire Constabulary, are also involved in the campaign. Emergency service workers from an array of different ethnicities are present in the three-and-a-half minute-long video. It has now been released as part of Black History Month and following the conclusion of Hate Crime Awareness Week, which took place last week. Designed to make people think about any unconscious biases they have, PC Nawaz concludes the poem by pleading with the audience to ‘just accept me first as a human being.’ She said: “The principal motivation around writing this spoken word piece was to raise awareness of the struggles and barriers that people of colour face in society throughout their lives. “We want a culture that embodies inclusivity – where people of colour are comfortable and confident being their authentic selves. “The poem exemplifies the desire for parity and encourages people to stamp out unfair treatment and challenge negative stereotypes, for a fairer society that not only accepts but celebrates the strengths of the differences between us.” Nottinghamshire Police Sergeant Nazia Kauser, Women of Colour in Policing lead, came up with the idea of getting emergency workers to speak the words and bring the poem to life in such a powerful way. As well as being responsible for gathering all the representatives together to feature in the video, she also appeared in it herself. The Women of Colour in Policing group was set up by Sgt Kauser in June, with the intention of making people more aware of the lived experiences and challenges female officers and police staff from ethnic minority backgrounds face. “We were really pleased to be able to support this important initiative and help more people understand some of the hurdles persons of colour are made to overcome,” said Sgt Kauser. “The Women of Colour in Policing movement was started to raise awareness of some of these challenges, which some people might not know too much about. “Projects like this one can help make a difference, so it was great to be able to see so many of our officers and staff come forward to take part, along with our colleagues in Derbyshire and across the fire service as well.”