Police barbershop meet up a success

Herts police teamed up with a St Albans barbershop to hold a meet up event with the Black community on Saturday 29 July.

Extreme Kutz, in Lattimore Road, hosted the day with the tagline ‘Respect the roots’ to give the community the opportunity to speak to local police officers and Police Community Support Officers in a relaxed environment.

“It was absolutely brilliant,” said Sgt Andrew ‘Tommo’ Thomas, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s Positive Action recruitment team. “We weren’t sure what kind of response we’d get but we had lots of the Black community come down and talk to us. It was really useful and a lot of fun.

“People brought their children to sit in the police car, try on the uniform and we had some important conversations. People were able to speak to us about policing in general, ask us questions, tell us their experiences and tell us how we can better support them. Lots of people signed up to come on a ride along, to see what we really do. I’m mixed race, I’ve had racism directed to me and I feel it’s important that people see that police officers are human beings just like them.”

He thanked Extreme Kutz owner Wayne: “We’re truly grateful to him for hosting this event.”

“It was fantastic, even better than I expected,” said barber Wayne. “It’s very important to give people a chance to meet officers and speak to them and share their views and how they feel.”

If you are aged over 16 and would like to go along on a ride along please email Herts police - Ride along (opens in a new window) to ask for an application form.

Through our ‘Positive Action’ scheme, Hertfordshire Constabulary is committed to building relationships with under-represented groups and encouraging them to join our policing family. For more information and support visit Herts police officer diversity page (opens in a new window).

Officers at the barbers