British police chiefs are reviewing anti-racism guidance following outrage over the treatment of a white student, who was handcuffed as he lay dying after being stabbed by a Sikh man, officials said Wednesday.
Far-right figures have seized on the case of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed and heard on police bodycam footage repeatedly telling officers he could not breathe as he lay mortally wounded in December.
His attacker, Vickrum Digwa, however, lied and said he was the victim as Nowak had racially insulted him.
Digwa, 23, was jailed for at least 21 years on Monday for stabbing Nowak to death using a ceremonial knife with a 21-centimetre (eight-inch) blade in the southern city of Southampton.
Two people were arrested late on Tuesday during a protest that turned violent, despite pleas from Nowak’s father that his son’s murder not be used “to create further division, hatred or tension.”
Hard-right lawmaker Nigel Farage and high-profile agitator Tommy Robinson claim that the incident was an example of so-called “two-tier policing”, in which officers are seen as dealing with ethnic minorities more leniently.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Labour government vehemently deny that two-tier policing exists.
But the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) said it would look at its Race Action Plan, which advises officers to treat suspected criminals differently depending on their ethnicity.
“We are listening to legitimate concerns about how some of these commitments are worded or phrased, and where needed we can and will make changes, but this should not detract from the intent, which is to improve the quality of policing,” chairman Gavin Stephens said in a statement.
The guidance published last year said the organisation’s commitment to racial equality “does not mean treating everyone ‘the same’ or being ‘colour blind’.”
Source: Insider Paper
