Ethnic groups still wary of contacting police says study

One of the 31 Polish participants in a consultation project did not know how to contact police in an emergency, 30 out of 31 did not know a local officer or PCSO, and 70 per cent did not know how to contact police in a non-emergency.

Similar results were found in the Lithuanian community in research carried out on behalf of force watchdog Humberside Police Authority.

A total of 22 per cent of Lithuanian respondents did not know how to contact police in an emergency, and 32 per cent in a non-emergency, while 26 of the 27 Lithuanian respondents did not know a local officer or PCSO.

Adil Khan, head of youth and community cohesion at Humberside Police, said the force was working hard to engage with all communities, but said there was always room for improvement.

He said: “Neighbourhood policing is a clear priority for us and people need to understand why we are there and what we do.

“There’s some excellent work going on and we are working to communicate with our new communities, although there’s always more we can do.

“I would always urge people to come forward and make themselves familiar with their local officers, and we always encourage staff to be out there engaging with groups who are new to the area.”

Mr Khan said one of the barriers the force had to overcome was negative perceptions of police in the home countries of some communities.

He said: “We know from Poland that police out there will not engage with members of the public unless there’s something they need to hold them to account for, unless there’s a problem.

“That’s different to what we do here, particularly with neighbourhood policing.”

A total of 91 per cent of Polish respondents said they sometimes or always felt safe in the area, compared to 84 per cent of Lithuanians. The Chinese community had a lack of confidence in reporting crimes, but no figures were available.

The report will be discussed by the authority’s communities and partnerships committee on Tuesday.