Policing by consent means we have to understand our Muslim communities as well - Dr Alan Billings

I was given a grand tour – from the vast prayer room accommodating hundreds of worshippers to the ‘green’ roof with its solar panels. The prayer room is in use and was full to overflowing at the recent end of Eid prayers and celebration. The sums of money the congregation are having to raise are huge – one reason why it has taken so long to get to this point.

I went to see whether this particular Muslim community knew their neighbourhood police team, which they do, and to talk more generally about relationships between the police and people of Muslim faith. If the police are to police all sections of South Yorkshire society appropriately, then this is an important group and one that is growing in numbers.

When I look at the figures of people attending mosques, on present projections, they will probably overtake those attending churches within a decade or so.

That will not make the country culturally Muslim, but it does mean that the police – and other public services – will need to understand this growing part of our communities, not least because Muslims come from many different ethnicities and cultures.

The imam I spoke to was of Pakistani heritage but the police chaplain who was with him was a British convert – and a woman – and other Muslims I meet have family in Yemen, Sudan, north and west Africa.

Policing by consent is about understanding all of that.

I have recently had a number of people ask me about electric scooters. They have generally had a story to tell about one coming past them very fast and very close, or one travelling at speed down the middle of the road somewhere. They want to know what the legal position is.

In a nutshell, it is simply against the law to ride an electric scooter on a public road, cycle lane, park or pavement anywhere in South Yorkshire.

But people can be confused – for two reasons.

First, it may be illegal to ride an e-scooter but it is not illegal to sell or buy one. This is because they can be used on private land with the owner’s permission.

Then second, there are parts of the country where e-scooters are being trialled and so it is lawful to ride them there.

These include nearby places such as York, Nottingham and Derby; but South Yorkshire is not a trial area.

Taken together – the fact that it is not illegal to sell scooters in South Yorkshire and the legal riding of scooters in some nearby cities – it is not surprising that so many seem uncertain about the position here.

A shortened version of the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire’s latest blog post.