Hackney,
15
August
2018
|
15:20
Europe/London

Response to IOPC investigation into the death of Rashan Charles

Hackney Town Hall

 

The investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct into the death of Rashan Charles, who died in Hackney in July 2017, has been published. It concluded that no officer should face gross misconduct or misconduct proceedings.

Members of  Hackney's Community Resilience Partnership have issued the following statements:

 

Rashan's death was a tragedy that was felt across the community and our thoughts remain with his family and friends and all who knew him. The formal inquiries and inquests surrounding Rashan’s death may now be over, but the impact of what happened last July will continue to be felt.

Since the tragic events last year, we have been listening to people’s concerns, including through a number of meetings hosted by the Young Person’s Stop and Search Monitoring Group at Hackney CVS. People and communities need to be heard and it is crucial that we continue to work together to mend relations and build trust and confidence.

As a partnership we are committed to doing that - to listening to and working with the community to ensure that all Hackney residents have confidence that the police and the authorities are there to keep them safe.

Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney

Chief Supt Sue Williams, Borough Commander, Hackney and Tower Hamlets

Cllr Caroline Selman, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Hackney Council

Nicola Baboneau, on behalf Hackney Safer Neighbourhood Board

Jake Ferguson, CEO Hackney CVS

 

 
Members of the Community Resilience Partnership
Rashan's death was devastating for his friends and family, and it has had a wider impact across the community. It has been extremely powerful to listen to the concerns, questions and fears of members of the community including young people over the course of the last year.  It is crucial that those concerns are heard and that we work together to ensure that all Hackney residents have confidence in the organisations that are there to keep them safe.
Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville and Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Cllr Caroline Selman

Rashan's death truly shook the community. It has increased tensions between the community and the police, especially amongst the youth, but it has also inspired members of the community to come together and share their views, thoughts and experiences not only at HCVS Stop and Search meetings but with their peers amongst the community, learning more about themselves in the process.


It is sad that something so tragic, that should have never have happened, has caused us to start having this much needed dialogue. We are actively making the effort to change the representation of young black men and to increase community engagement from the police by building and strengthening mutual understanding and deconstructing stereotypes, and we hope that this will help to make sure a tragedy like this never happens again.
Thaddeus Brown, Chair, Stop and Search Monitoring Group