Discrimination taken 'extremely seriously' says Jersey Police following George Floyd death

Channel
Jersey
Wednesday 3 June 2020 at 4:48pm

The States of Jersey Police has released a statement in response to the death of George Floyd in the US.

Mr Floyd - a black man who was in handcuffs at the time - died after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck and ignored his cries that he could not breathe.

According to his family's lawyers, a post-mortem later found he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression.

Mr Floyd died after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck and ignored his cries that he could not breathe. Credit: Darnella Frazier

The incident was filmed by a bystander and has sparked protests across the world, and conversations about discrimination and racism through the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter.

In a statement today, Jersey's Chief of Police Robin Smith says his force takes any form of discrimination "extremely seriously".

We recognise that for us to reduce discriminatory behaviour in our community we must, as police officers, behave in a manner that is entirely consistent with these values. All officers therefore receive mandatory equality, diversity and inclusivity training and we have twelve specially trained champions who provide subject matter expertise within the force. > We also work closely with Liberate and our Community Advisory Group, which comprises representatives from a wide range of minority groups within Jersey, to ensure that we understand ongoing and developing issues in this area and police in a proactive and considerate manner. It is also important to reinforce that our policing philosophy in Jersey, as in the UK, is one of policing by consent – we are all islanders in uniform and recognise that we can only police effectively with the trust and confidence of the community we serve.”