Hi, my name is Steve; I am a trainee police officer with Greater Manchester Police assigned to the Oldham division. Believe it or not but part of the training with GMP is University based. I recently spent some time at MMU studying Social Capital and Muslim communities with Basit Shah, who some of you may know. He is the director of a non profit organisation called Vision Associates based in Oldham. I would be grateful if any forum members from Oldham or anyone with ties to Oldham could spend a few moments and post your thoughts and feelings on the following:
1. What is the relationship like between the Muslim community and the wider area of Oldham? Is it good, are there any tensions (especially after the riots of 2001), do you feel socially isolated? If you do why.
2. Do you feel that your needs in relation to policing are met? Do you feel that you suffer from particular types of crime, what do you feel are your needs. What would you like GMP to do for you?
3. Do you think that the Muslim Community has a good relationship with GMP?
4. What do you think could be done to improve police/community relations?
5. Do you think that there are enough black, Asian, Muslim police officers?
6. Has anyone thought about joining GMP either as a police officer or staff? If not, why not.
I realise that there is quite a bit to get your teeth into here so please don’t feel that you have to address everything. It would be nice to hear directly from the people I am trying to write about rather than interpreting information from web sites and magazine articles.
Many thanks for you input/help and I look forward to reading your thoughts.
Steve
Good idea. A fair few people here from Oldham.
[size=10]The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.[/size]
[size=9]Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970)[/size]
No. Just relaxed.
In 2001 it was spun out into a conflict. Many people blame the police in having a hand in this. The Police were involved in the provocation.
In 2001, for around a month or so people felt trapped. Donlt go out at night. Don't go town center at any time. Going into town center all manners of people (caucasian) would approach you telling you that they have heard it is not safe for asians. Not that really stopped me (I cna be a bit of a nihilist), but it did for alot of people. There was plenty of media coverage and eventually things boiled over. It was a status quo that could not last.
Racist Football hooligans being routed through an asian shopping area was not a good idea. Many shops got smashed that day.
Then with the results people got very harsh (too harsh) sentences. A gripe many people hold.
I have heard that asians in general got longer sentences, but I have no idea if that is just a common "gripe" going around or is based in reality.
but apart from that all is cool.
No. In our local area there has been a marked increas in burglaries. apparentyl 200 or so in a small period of time. Have I even seen a police officer anywhere near here? no.
Only time I see police is near Eid, but even that has gone down.
No idea. Was not really aware there was one.
More seriously, I have not needed to contact the police, so I would not be the right person to actually know.
have Bobbies on the beat.
On the bridge next to 6th form college, make one of the two camera's actually point at the bridge. I want the people who keep smashing the glass caught. Currently there are what? 7? 8? panes of broken glass.
It's not even that distant from the cop station.
Don't know. Not really been an issue for me.
I did, but then saw that you have a physical exam. not in exactly the best shape atm :s
It's always good to have a rant. Even better if people listen. :twisted:
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Thanks for answering.
you are right we were, we even admit it. GMP at the time even says they could and should have handled things a whole lot differently. This is true as well. I use to work for the probation service in Oldham. We had a brief on a number of Asian lads who were coming out on licence or finishing their sentence and one of the issues that we raised was that they seemed to get longer sentences. I’ll break this down into two parts if I can. Burglary in Oldham is a major issue and you are not alone in this. Burglary on the Q division has got to a ridiculous point. Every area of Oldham has seen an increase in burglary and is top of the list on GMP's priorities. In relation to seeing police officers on the street, there are less and less every day (in some cases its frightening how many are actually out there) This is not the cops fault (I would say that wouldn’t I :wink:) The powers that be i.e. the government tie us down with so much paperwork it’s untrue. Every time a copper speaks to someone they have to fill out a form, if I take their baton out it’s a form, every time a search is done its a form. Paperwork seems to be the biggest gripe for operational officers. Dealing with an arrest can take you off the street for a long time too. GMP's chief con has about 8000 officers he wants 12000. We are the largest force outside of the Met in London yet GMP has no where near enough bobbies on the street compared to the Met and no where near the same budget. I recently visited some mosques around Oldham and spoke to some older members of the community, one was an Imam I think. They gave the impression that the relationship between the Muslim Communities and the Police was good. I was curious to find out if the younger generation had the same feelings. can’t say much about this as I'm not operational yet. Replacing the panes will be down to the council and it all comes down to £££££££ the main reason I asked this is because it’s been in the news lately. Most forces in England including GMP are under represented with ethnic minorities; I think it’s less than 5%. Some forces are considering positive discrimination i.e. fast tracking black and Asian officers into the police (the process usually takes about 12 months and they want to get ethnic minorities in quicker) although this is highly illegal and against employment law. I'll try and re-phrase the original question. As someone who is Asian, Muslim or black would you prefer to be dealt with by a police officer as the same race/religion as you as appose to someone who is white British. Do you think they can relate to you more and be more understanding? Its very very easy. You need your brains for police work rather than muscle (although it does help to have both)Please keep the comments coming. Feel free to be as positive or negative as you like, I won’t be offended. Thanks
No, you misunderstand - the council keeps replacing them.
But at over £1000 per pane (they are massive sheets of glass), it would be cheaper to refocus one of the two cameras to actually keep an eye on the bridge. Make effective use of the money. Catch the idiots who find it amusing to keep breaking the glass.#
And about community relations I found it amusing when they woke up a councillor to do predawn drugs raids about a year or so ago - especially as they busted his brother!
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.