Community Co-Chair for Stop and Search panel wanted

Northamptonshire Police is looking for a volunteer to help develop the Force’s vital work in the area of Stop and Search.

The Force’s Reasonable Grounds Panel, which champions public involvement in the regulation of police officers’ use of powers, is looking for a new Community Co-Chair to run panel meetings and represent the RGP both internally and externally, including engagement with the media.

The postholder will also assist the Police chair in accessing our most affected communities to ensure the RGP gives them an active part to play in the ethical, effective and open to scrutiny approach to stop and search.

They will assist in presenting data for inspection visits by agencies such as HMICFRS and meet regularly with the Assistant Chief Constable in overall charge of this area of business and take responsibility for producing a quarterly update on the Force’s use of powers.

This voluntary role has no financial reward, but was identified as a gap following a report produced last year by the Open Society Foundation in conjunction with the Northamptonshire Rights Equality Council.

Chief Inspector Gan Thayanithy, who has just taken over as the Force’s operational lead for Stop & Search, said: “This is a really important new post which has come out of recommendations made to the Force calling for a greater independence presence within the RGP. The creation of the RGP some years back was a highly innovative step and is a model that has been adopted by other Forces. We are committed to working with the community to ensure the Force uses stop & search powers in an effective and ethical way, and are accountable and open to scrutiny and the successful candidate will help progress our work in this very important area.”

Gilly Anglin Jarrett, who is current co-chair of the Northamptonshire Stop & Search Working Group, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for someone to help our communities build trust and confidence in the police and to ensure that police powers are used fairly and proportionately. I look forward to working with the successful appointee as we continue on this journey.”

Anyone interested in the role should contact Chief Inspector Thayanithy via email at [email protected]