On Thursday 7th March 2013 we had a joint Birmingham Empowerment Forum & United By Legacy Meeting at Lozells Methodist Community Centre.
Our panel consisted of Bob Jones West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner along with his Deputy Yvonne Mosquito, Dr Derrick Campbell one of the newly appointed IPCC Commisioners and Experienced Criminal Lawyer Errol Robinson.
This was a highly emotive meeting. We must thank the Authorities for their participation and their willingness not to hide away from the hard questions and the fact that they listened and indeed actually answered questions.
Despite the emotion and sometimes displays of anger, in the end we had 16 people declaring an interest in becoming Custody Visitors which can only be described as progress. Some even said that they were unaware that the positions existed, yet alone being able to hold the Police to account by policing the cells in terms of detainees welfare, right & indeed welbeing.
We still have a long way to go, but, those of us who are aware of the roles that people in our communities and participate in, do have a responsibility of basically spreading the word. We all have our part to play and people are willing to do so and they see the need to now be pro-active, but, they must be aware of these opportunities of Civic Participation.
Our panel consisted of Bob Jones West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner along with his Deputy Yvonne Mosquito, Dr Derrick Campbell one of the newly appointed IPCC Commisioners and Experienced Criminal Lawyer Errol Robinson.
This was a highly emotive meeting. We must thank the Authorities for their participation and their willingness not to hide away from the hard questions and the fact that they listened and indeed actually answered questions.
Despite the emotion and sometimes displays of anger, in the end we had 16 people declaring an interest in becoming Custody Visitors which can only be described as progress. Some even said that they were unaware that the positions existed, yet alone being able to hold the Police to account by policing the cells in terms of detainees welfare, right & indeed welbeing.
We still have a long way to go, but, those of us who are aware of the roles that people in our communities and participate in, do have a responsibility of basically spreading the word. We all have our part to play and people are willing to do so and they see the need to now be pro-active, but, they must be aware of these opportunities of Civic Participation.