National Association of Muslim Police

PRESS RELEASE RE DEATH MICHAEL TODD DATED 11 MARCH 2008

The National Association of Muslim Police takes this opportunity in passing our deepest condolences and sympathy to Greater Manchester Police and the Family of Michael Todd.
We share their loss, grief and shock at this tragic moment.
Mr Todd will be missed but never forgotten.
We would like to offer you our support through this difficult period.

PRIME MINISTER BACKS MUSLIM POLICE ASSOCIATION

The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) held its first annual conference on Tuesday 29 January 2008 at National Police Improvement Agency Buildings, Ryton-on-Dunsmore.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown recorded a video message for the conference, in which he offered his personal support for the NAMP and praised the work they were doing both in the police service and the wider community.

The theme of the conference was ‘Muslim Police - Improving Trust, Confidence and Safety’. The conference informed and educated guests how Muslim police can make a difference to these key goals and objectives.

Over 300 invited guests attended, including special constables, PCSOs, police staff, police officers, the Association of Chief Police Officers, partner agency staff and selected members of the community.

|Guest speakers at the conference were the police minister, the Rt. Hon. Tony McNulty MP, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Ronnie Flanagan, Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner Sir Ian Blair, West Midlands Chief Constable Sir Paul Scott Lee, Peter Neyroud, Chief Executive of the National Police Improvement Agency, Chief Inspector Jan Berry from the Police Federation and Superintendent Dal Babu, outgoing NAMP President.

Outgoing President said “The National Association of Muslim Police and our members throughout the country want to play a full and effective part in all aspects of policing. At this moment with the threat from Al Qaeda the police service must make use of our own resources Muslim officers have invaluable cultural, community and language skills on top of their policing skills to improve our country's united effort to defeat terrorism .I want to see our Muslim officers and staff playing a bigger role in defeating terrorism”.

Elections were held on the day and British Transport Police officer Zaheer Ahmad was elected President for the next two years. The NAMP represents Muslim officers and staff throughout the UK and there are currently five constituted AMP groups and three interim groups.

National association of muslim police conference - Chief warns of anti-terrorism burden on Muslim officers

THE police service must not lay too much responsibility on Muslim police officers and staff in its ongoing battle against terrorism, one chief constable has warned.

Sir Paul Scott-Lee, chief constable of West Midlands Police, also said it could be more important for forces to spread understanding about faith and diversity in areas of the UK that are less diversely populated.

Speaking at the National Association of Muslim Police's first ever annual conference on Tuesday (29 January), Sir Paul also said he does not agree that the emergence of local Muslim police associations, as well as the national association, is a 'sign of despair'.

He added: 'We are moving forward and I think the National Association of Muslim Police has a central role to play in our fight against terrorism. But this is not about us laying all that responsibility on the shoulders of Muslim officers and staff - it is about capturing that expertise and enthusiasm.'

Sir Paul also told delegates: 'I look today at how we are aspiring to deliver local policing.

'Some people still talk with dewy eyes about the good old days of policing, but as someone who has been around policing in the 1960s, I do not think there was ever this golden age of policing.

'With a lot of effort and support we could be entering a very special age of policing.

'I look at what we trying to do across the country at creating local neighbourhood policing and I think we are in a good place.

'If the momentum we see today is carried forward in the same way, the progress we will have made in two years' time will have astounded even the most optimistic.'

The conference also heard from Sir Paul that it is almost more important that the police service works to spread understanding of faith and diversity in areas of the UK where communities are less diverse.

He added: 'I came to the West Midlands from Suffolk - a place where they boast they have more pigs than people.

'In Suffolk, when you were talking about issues of faith and diversity, you were talking to people in an academic or theoretical way because they did not have to recognise these issues in the same way; it was not something they brushed up against on such a basis.

'And this is something we need to work on across the UK.'

Tony McNulty, police minister, who was also at the conference, agreed.

He said: 'It does not follow that there should just be local Muslim police associations in strong Muslim communities.

'In some ways it is as important in areas where there are precious few Muslim communities, as the influence and stereotypes are there all the more readily when the Muslim community is not there by their sides.'

There are currently five constituted local associations of Muslim police nationwide.

Call for re-evaluation of security vetting

THE present system of security vetting police officers needs to be reformed so black and ethnic minority officers and staff are not indirectly discriminated against, the National Association of Muslim Police has said.

Supt Dal Babu, the association's outgoing president, told its first annual conference that 'the present system restricts the potential use of black and ethnic minority officers and staff to join counter-terrorism commands'.

He added: 'This is because verification of an officer's history in countries such as Pakistan takes longer to complete and may not be verified to the satisfaction of UK and wider world security services.'

Supt Babu said the association is also anxious about the message given out to both Muslim officers and the Muslim community, due to recent reports of the treatment of individual officers working in sensitive operational areas.

He said that in one case reported in the media, it was claimed an officer was told he posed a threat to national security as his children had attended a mosque which a Muslim cleric linked to a suspected terrorist group also attended.

He added: 'Our association believes reports like these undermine efforts to get more Muslim [people] to join the service.'

Supt Babu later told Police Review the association wants the police service to carry out a race and equality impact assessment to look at vetting as a whole.

He added: 'For a long time the police service has focused on policies and processes. We want to look to getting some outcomes in areas that will affect our members, such as the number of Muslim officers in higher ranks.'

Conference-in-brief

Terrorism challenge 'overwhelms' service

The investigative part of the Government's counter-terrorism strategy has 'overwhelmed' the Met's preventative policing so it needs 'all the help it can get' from Muslim officers and staff, the Met commissioner said on Tuesday (29 January).

Sir Ian Blair said the challenge against terrorism is 'absolutely huge' and the police service cannot do its job properly without being representative of the community it serves.

He added the National Association of Muslim Police is 'absolutely crucial'. Sir Ian also said that while the Met has doubled the number of Muslim police staff in London in the last three years, the growth of Muslim Met police officers has been much slower at about 20 per cent. He said there are currently around 300 Muslim Met officers but the force needs to have around 3,300 to be truly representative.

Muslim association must be 'critical' says minister

The National Association of Muslim Police must be 'friendly but critical' with service stakeholders if it is to be effective, the police minister has said.

Tony McNulty said effective working in the police service is not about everyone agreeing all the time, as that is 'no good for anyone'. He added that 'purposeful, critical, and mature engagement, rather than ticking some box' is how the association, which was launched seven months ago, will be at its best.

Police federation calls for united force

It is imperative the National Association of Muslim Police works closely with other staff associations, the Police Federation of England and Wales has urged.

Jan Berry, federation chairman, said it is very easy to talk about 'working together' but she accepts 'the reality is not that straightforward'.

She added: 'Ninety five per cent of the time we will agree, but where we do disagree, it is far bolder to admit it and say why. What we [staff associations] are is a united force, not a fragmented series of groups that the Home Office can play off against each other. The challenge in the months and years to come is for these bonds to grow stronger.'