The dangers of an unaccountable police force

A joint post by Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary and Neville Lawrence who spoke at the union’s annual conference in Bournemouth today.

Neville Lawrence:

Following the tragic incident of the racist murder of my son, Stephen, every door was closed to my family when we sought basic answers about what had happened. But during the most challenging times of my life, UNISON extended an arm of friendship and warmth to my family, providing support and using their influence to make a difference on our behalf.

UNISON was the only trade union to give evidence to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry on the state of race relations in the country – and where UNISON  led others followed. With their support many other trade unions and campaigning organisations signed up to the long and laborious fight for justice for my son – a campaign that has taken nearly 20 years so far.

Trade unions have always stood steadfast with those whose causes are unpopular. They are there supporting communities in their times of need and they stand on the side of justice for those groups marginalised by society.

This week I sat in the audience for UNISON’s conference listening to the stories of its members from across the country. Most people do not hear of the struggle that these members and far too many other hard-working families and individuals go through to make a living. Their hardship is often drowned out by the divisive rhetoric of a Government seeking to punish the less well off, forcing them to work so much longer than before and contribute so much more for so much less. But these divisions are not limited to the workplace.

I know firsthand about the dangers of an unaccountable police force and my personal experience has shown me that privatising the police will be a disaster. Privatisation will mean the government is no longer responsible and accountable for what happens within parts of the police service. Private companies will choose to spend less time investigating crime and more time cutting the money they spend in order to make more profit. When a private company is accountable only to its shareholders and has a 10 year contract to run the police you will be unable to seek intervention when they refuse to act. These reforms, alongside cuts to the legal aid system, will only lead to less access to justice and a fragmented police service with nobody responsible for what they do.

I feel thoroughly privileged to have seen the power of people coming together to fight for justice for my son. It is essential that now, more than ever, we come together to fight police privatisation and a further limiting of access to justice for others.

Dave Prentis:

As trade unionists we are inspired by the strength and determination shown by Neville Lawrence and his family in their tireless campaign to seek justice for Stephen.

We saw how, despite the hurdles and the prejudices, Neville built an extraordinary alliance of ordinary people. People who felt sickened by the racist murder of his son and whom were prepared to act, to come together to campaign for change.

Between now and the national demonstration for a “Future that Works” on the 20^th of  October, our trade union will be reaching out to those across all communities who are already out there campaigning and fighting this Tory-led Coalition. We must build our own coalition, challenging what is wrong and what is patently unfair. Neville Lawrence led the way in bringing people together to campaign for justice for his son; it is our duty to follow this example and come together to campaign against the injustices committed by this coalition.