Update letter to our Black communities
Chief Constable Amanda Pearson has issued a further letter to the county’s Black communities to update them about the work the Force has been carrying out since the launch of its Police Race Action Plan to improve Black people’s experience of policing.
You can find the letter in full below:
Dear community member,
I wanted to write to update you about the work we have been carrying out across our organisation and with our communities since we launched our Police Race Action Plan in November 2024 to improve Black people’s experience of policing.
Our Dorset Police Race Action Plan aims to improve Black people’s experience of policing, eliminate racial disparities and support Dorset Police to become an anti-racist and inclusive organisation. One of the key decisions in the development of the plan was acknowledging institutional racism and accepting that Black people are over-policed, under-protected, under-represented and have more negative experiences of policing in Dorset.
I want to reiterate that I do not believe that I am leading an organisation where the majority of officers, staff or volunteers hold racist views or act in overtly or intentionally racist ways. Therefore, it must be that the systems, processes, policies, structures and unwitting actions based upon unconscious biases are influencing how we are delivering our policing service.
I am committed to making Dorset a safe county for everyone and, as an organisation, we will strive to deliver fair and effective policing to all our rich and diverse communities.
Our plan was co-produced with our internal and external Black communities, and this was an important step to ensure we had listened to your views so we could fully understand what matters and prioritise our action in the most crucial areas.
Since the launch of the plan, our Black communities have been energised by the courage we have shown in acknowledging institutional racism and have shown a desire to wish to work alongside us so we can deliver an improved policing service to everyone.
We have invested a great deal of time to engage with our workforce, and they have been embracing the plan by broadening the discussions on race and policing.
I am immensely proud to lead Dorset Police and all the amazing officers, staff and volunteers who work across our county, and I am grateful to all those who have driven forward this change.
We have published our Police Race Action Plan Update Report, which outlines the work that has been delivered to date, the activity we have underway and what is planned into the future. It is important to acknowledge and recognise we are at the start of a long journey and change will take time to complete, but these are all ambitions everyone in policing can help us achieve.
Trust and confidence will not improve overnight: our data relating to our disparity will not be eliminated in a matter of months and increasing our representation at all levels will take time. This is a wider challenge that includes cultural change, behavioural reflection and proactive community engagement work with our community. What we want to achieve is consistent and enduring change, but just because it will take time should not deter us from doing the right thing.
We will continue to monitor our progress via our internal scrutiny boards and our communities, because success will not only be measured against improvements in our data, but also when our Black communities tell us they feel a difference.
It’s important that we have empathy and respect and listen to how our Black communities are impacted by policing. That’s why we are widening who we work with, to understand and address each of the areas of disparity and concern.
Our community-based group, which is made up of members from our internal and external Black communities, continues to act as a critical friend: providing advice, guidance and recommendations, tracking and monitoring our progress against the plan and encouraging community involvement and engagement including observing areas of policing so we can deliver an even better service.
I would welcome more involvement from our Black communities – whether it is being part of an independent advisory group, a member of our Stop and Search Scrutiny panels, observing our training or joining officers on a patrol shift. If you are interested, please email dorsetpoliceraceactionplan@dorset.pnn.police.uk
Finally, policing is an amazingly rewarding job whether as an officer, member of staff or a volunteer. We want our organisation to represent our community, so I would like to remind you that we are running a number of recruitment campaigns here in Dorset for a new vocational non-degree police officer entry route, Police Community Support Officers, detention officers and special constables. You can find out more about these roles and the support offered to underrepresented groups as part of our Positive Action initiative here: https://www.dorset.police.uk/police-forces/dorset-police/areas/careers/careers/
I look forward to working together with you to deliver long lasting tangible change.
Yours sincerely,
Chief Constable Amanda Pearson