Anti Racist Cumbria has released a statement following the police’s apology for issuing a leaflet depicting a black person dealing drugs.
Cumbria police said it was sorry for any offence it had caused and accepted it was “a poor choice of image” for the campaign, designed to gain information about drugs supply in the county.
Anti Racist Cumbria, an organisation which aims to make the county an actively anti-racist county by education and action, said: “Anti Racist Cumbria have been working with Cumbria police since the summer.
“The poster campaign was brought to our attention and we immediately contacted them with our concerns.
“For us, this is not about offence and more about the real impact on people in our communities.
“This kind of imagery perpetuates racist stereotypes and could put our already minoritised black and brown communities under suspicion for no reason.
” We must consider that only around one per cent of our population is black and we have already heard from some local black and brown residents that they fear being more ‘watched’ as a direct result of this leaflet.
That’s not good for community relations, and should that fear be borne out, for example in increased stop and searches would not be good for locals or visitors alike.
“Tackling county lines is important to our communities and it’s right that Cumbria police reach out to encourage vigilance however when that imagery implies that county lines dealers are black that could create division where there isn’t any. In rural areas with less diverse populations this kind of messaging is even more important.
“We have a good relationship with Cumbria police and were glad to see swift action from them, we are pleased to be working together to address the issues raised and achieve better outcomes in future.”
