Three Peckham sixth formers went to Scotland Yard to give the new Metropolitan Police Commissioner a list of recommendations on his first day in office.
The letter, delivered to the police headquarters on Monday, September 12, advised Met Police Commisioner Sir Mark Rowley to focus on local communities and make the police more transparent.
The young men, aged sixteen and seventeen, are part of ‘Elevated Aspirations’, a scheme that gives criminal justice work experience to young people from under-represented communities.
Tristan, 17, from Peckham, who recently completed the thirteen-week work experience placement, said he went into it with “an open mind and learned so much”.
The group’s experiences helped them to draw up the list of recommendations which are to:
- Expand opportunities for young people to interact with the Met in an informal setting.
- Work with young people on all Met social media accounts.
- Share good practices of working with young people across the Met.
- Show transparent accountability when things go wrong.
- Pursue a recruitment programme that focuses on understanding local communities.
Johnson Situ, who is hoping to be the next MP for Camberwell and Peckham, and accompanied the boys, said it was important that young people’s “voices” were heard.
Despite his successful internship, Tristan is still frank about the “fear” young black men have of police.
He said: “These are the people who are employed to protect us. And inherently, we feel fear when we see them. The boys you see here are law-abiding citizens. You’ll never ever find us doing a crime yet when we see a policeman our hearts will drop.”
Joel, 17, also from Peckham and studying A levels, agreed that the work experience placement had been positive: “Having interacted with them on a more human level, off the streets and in the classrooms, there’s definitely a more personal connection when speaking to them.”
But he too said the relationship between police and young people was still “nowhere near where it needs to be”.
That relationship received another blow last Monday, September 5, when an unarmed black 23-year-old named Chris Kaba was shot dead by police.
Alpha, 16, also from Peckham said: “It doesn’t feel right killing a man that was unarmed. He may have been trying to get away but using that force to end his life…”
Alpha said the police needed to “take responsibility for their own actions” and prosecute the officer who shot Mr Kaba.
Joel said: “He’s a man who looked like me. I’m sure we had similar backgrounds so to see that – I was in shell shock. It could have been anyone. It could have been me, my friend, or my dad. It’s troubling to see.”
As of March 31 2021, just 1.3 per cent of police officers are black, with underrepresentation highest in the most senior ranks.
Asked if he would consider joining the police following his placement, Tristan said: “You have to be the change you want to see – I agree with that.
“But to put myself in that situation, knowing what the Met has done to people of my demographic and how my demographic feels towards the Met, I’m not sure that’s something I’d want to do to myself.”
Joel said: “I feel like in order to make a change I have to be there to influence it. So, more so than before, I’d consider it as an option.”