Police chiefs agree to work more closely with senior Jewish officers
A communal delegation has met with commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to discuss concerns, amid further criticism of their handling of pro-Palestinian protests
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Metropolitan Police chiefs have agreed to consult with senior Jewish police officers more closely moving forwards over culturally sensitive matters in the aftermath of criticism at the way they responded to a high-profile incident at an anti-Israel demo in central London.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was among the group of senior figures to meet with a delegation of communal leaders, including representatives from the Board of Deputies, London Jewish Forum, the Community Security Trust and the Union of Jewish Students on Monday.
The talks, which also saw assistant commissioner Matt Twist, and chief communications officer Sharon Sawers attend, following the outcry after Campaign Against Antisemitism chief executive, Gideon Falter, was described by an officer as being “openly Jewish” during a pro-Palestinian demonstration earlier this month.
One source who attended the meeting said it was “frank but friendly” and did not include any call from communal leaders for Rowley to resign.
The Met Police representatives all repeated the apologies made by police over the weekend regarding recent communications and agreed to consult more closely with Jewish community representatives and, importantly, with senior Jewish police officers, to ensure greater cultural sensitivity in future communications relating to the Jewish community.
All organisations present expressed their appreciation for how much the police have done since October 7 to support the Jewish community; however, all stressed that when a mistake is made it needed to be admitted, rectified and learnt from so it is not repeated.
In their statement after the talks communal leaders added:” We will continue our dialogue with police later this week to press our concerns regarding the cumulative impact of the repeated anti-Israel protests in terms of disruption and intimidation of the Jewish community.
“We urge the police and government to work together to find ways to limit this impact through reducing the number of protests, moving them to less disruptive locations and acting firmly and consistently whenever offences are committed by people on the demonstrations.”
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