A STUDY examining the relationship Notts Police has with the black and ethnic minority community is to be made public for the first time today.
The study was commissioned by Notts Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping to find out how black and ethnic minority communities view police.
It is hoped the research will build greater trust and mean more people will feel confident in reporting crime.
The three-month study was led by Professor Cecile Wright, from the University of Nottingham's school of sociology and social policy, and looked in detail at topics including victim satisfaction rates, recruitment figures within Notts Police and the force's stop and search statistics.
Within the report Prof Wright is expected to acknowledge examples of good police work, but stress there is room for improvement in relations between officers and the public.
She is expected to recommend an action plan to tackle hate crime and a supervision system for police officers and PCSOs to more closely assess how they operate.
Professor Wright is also expected to recommend a review of the force's stop and search strategy.
Mr Tipping said: "This project was commissioned so that corrective action can be taken to restore confidence and trust in the Force from the perspective of our black and ethnic minority residents and I am very keen to see the recommendations set out in Professor Wright's report.
"We've already made good progress in our pursuit of equality and fairness, particularly around community engagement and I am very grateful to the efforts of Cecile and her team for their hard work.
"It is clear that more needs to be done and the pace of improvement is likely to quicken with this research to draw on for guidance."
Notts Police Chief Constable Chris Eyre said: "We want to provide the very best policing service to the people of Nottinghamshire and to do that it is absolutely essential that the public have trust and confidence in us.
"One of the ways we can do that is to increase our understanding of the different communities we serve so we can identify issues and concerns that they have and work together to resolve them.
"This report gives us an insight into the experiences some members of our BME communities have had with policing. The Commissioner is right that we should do all we can to replace negative perceptions of the police with positive experiences."
He added he believed the force had already made "huge strides" in recent years in building better relationships with black and ethnic minority communities.
