'No two-tier policing in West Midlands' in wake of murder of Henry Nowak
Mr Nowak died shortly after having been stabbed five times, including a fatal wound to his heart.
The acting chief of West Midlands Police said there is no ‘two-tier policing’ in the West Midlands in the wake of the murder of Henry Nowak.
Acting Chief Constable Scott Green was on the Ed James’ show on BBC Radio WM on June 3 where he was quizzed on issues, including the the high profile case in Southampton.
He was played the harrowing audio in which the 18-year-old victim told police he had been stabbed, adding ‘I can’t breathe’ as he was being cuffed by officers as a result of a false allegation of racism.
Mr Nowak died shortly after having been stabbed five times, including a fatal wound to his heart.
Vickrum Digwa, 23, has been jailed for life for stabbing the university student to death in December
When asked how he felt listening to that audio, ACC Green said: “Probably the same as everybody else that listens to it and also as somebody who is a father of two young adults.
“It’s absolutely tragic. Henry’s death is tragic and on behalf on both myself as a human and West Midlands Police, we are truly sorry to Henry’s family and his tragic loss.
“It is reassuring hopefully to all of us his murderer has been convicted and imprisoned and we understand that sentence may well be reviewed.
“But listening to that and seeing the footage is tragic and it’s tragic seeing a young man’s life being lost on our streets in an act of violence.”
When asked about allegations of two-tier policing, Mr Green said it would be inappropriate to comment on the specific case further as an investigation is being carried out into the officer’s conduct.
But he said: “We police without fear or favour but that’s really hard. It’s really hard to do in a more polarized society and it’s harder to do when there is more political rhetoric around the things we do and the way policing operates.
“But what I see everyday from the officers and staff and volunteers on the front line is people out there doing the very best they can everyday for the communities they serve.
“We strive every single day to simply police without fear or favour, to do the very best we can with the resources we have got to keep 2.9 million people safe.”
He said West Midlands Police has “invested significantly” to train officers to understand in more detail the diverse population they serve.
This includes training on the force’s black history, what it means to be a Jew in Britain and what it means to be a Muslim.
But he rejected claims from people, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, suggesting police take allegations of racism more seriously than anything else.
Mr Green said: “We should never take any steps from stifling our politicians from making the statements they make.
“There is no training in place that says we have to take allegations of racism over anything else. We judge every situation based on the facts in front of us and strive to do our very best on every occasion.
“The job of police officers is to police. My day job is to lead the police force.
“I don’t think we have our hands tied. I think we Have flexibility and operational independent to operate in a way that is right and appropriate.”