Community leader says trust can be built in wake of Dalian Atkinson case
A community leader says she is confident trust can be built between the police and Telford's black community after an officer was jailed for killing Dalian Atkinson.
Benjamin Monk was sentenced to eight years in jail for Mr Atkinson's manslaughter, being convicted at Birmingham Crown Court last month, five years on from the former football star's death.
The case was a landmark prosecution, with Monk being the first British police officer convicted of manslaughter in the course of their duties for 30 years.
During the trial the court was told harrowing details of how Monk twice kicked Mr Atkinson in the head as he lay on the ground outside his father's Telford home – so hard that it left the imprint of his bootlaces on Mr Atkinson's head.
Mr Atkinson had been in the midst of a mental health episode when police were called in August 2016, with Monk tasering the former Aston Villa star for 30 seconds – six times longer than standard – after a stand off where Mr Atkinson was said have "lost touch with reality" and was "unrecognisable to those who knew him at the scene".
The verdict comes against the backdrop of increasing awareness and concern across the world over the way police handle cases involving black people – particularly in the US, where the murder of George Floyd sparked international dismay and led to a major rise in prominence and support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and calls for greater action on racial equality.
Natalie Headley, a founder of Telford African & Afro Caribbean Resource Centre, and chair of its trustees, said that she believes police in the borough have taken genuine steps to build trust with the black community in the years since the Windrush scandal was revealed.
She added that while there is anger in the wake of Monk's sentencing, the trust can be built – and that elements of the lack of trust are generational, going back to the historic experiences of families and communities.
She said: "The lack of trust stems back from beyond the Atkinson case and this is inbred in society. The relationship between the police and the black community is generational, it comes from way, way back so there is always a fear in relation to the police and the reaction and how it will be."
Mrs Headley said considerable work had been taking place to improve community relations with the police – and particularly so that young black people in the borough do not look to the police with fear.
She said: "We have been working together to see change and not just tick boxing. I really think we are making positive steps in order to promote community cohesion with the police and to grow that relationship for the betterment of the community
"We are hoping to celebrate Windrush day and we are asking them to be a part of that, be part of the community groups, we are running a football group for the young lads, our youth clubs, so kids wont grow up with that instinctive fear I have. It is an instinctive fear for people that if they stop my car 'what have I done'. I do not want my kids to grow up with that fear.
"It is a generational thing that happened to people's brothers, fathers and their grandfathers."
She added: "It is something that will take time but I believe it will happen, It may not happen in our generation but if we start now and I can see with the relationships we have now it is possible and that is what is encouraging, it is possible."
Mrs Headley said that the commitment to improve relations also has to outlast any individual within the force, and needs to be embedded within West Mercia Police as a whole organisation.
She said: "I am getting positive feedback from them but the only concern I have is we need assurance that this will continue with or without any individual that has stated it – that the position will run through West Mercia, that whatever is started now continues regardless of who is in the position."
