BAZ WITHERS

I found the programme series enlightening, if a little biased in its editing. I am the father and grandfather of three serving police officers in the Avon & Somerset region (Bristol), so I understand the difficulties frontline officers face on a daily basis. I wish to refer to episode 2 of the series, and in particular the incident of the confrontation on the bus in Bedminster. I did feel the editing of this piece was somewhat biased, with interwoven shots to the various persons of the community on the Zoom call and their expressions of outrage. I saw no evidence - either verbal or of video footage from the CCTV camera actually in the bus - to support the bus driver's version of events. There appeared to be no attempt - or at least it wasn't stated - on the part of the proceeding police investigation, to obtain CCTV footage from the bus. This could have been vital in establishing whether or not the passenger's version of events was corroborated. I accept that this would not have been immediately available to the police officers at the scene. The young woman involved clearly stated that she had apologised to the driver, for her apparent 'rudeness', prior to your officers being called. The programme therefore was unable to present what preceded or prompted the driver/bus company protocol to inform the police. We of course, were also not party to dialogue in the emergency call.        The male police officer's first approach was to initially ignore the protestations of the female passenger with her explanation, but accepted the bus driver's version of events. I accept the enquiry's findings in as much as institutional racism did not influence decisions made at the time. However, it might have emerged that the bus driver himself was in some way guilty of racism, and perhaps this influenced his decision to call for assistance. The outcome involved several (6) additional officers attending the scene, some of whom were charged with addressing the growing antipathy of a public gathering outside the bus. The inappropriate use of PAVA spray, a subsequent 'full-scale' enquiry and, following her complaint, compensation being paid to the 'victim' - not to mention the distress caused to both mother and child - was unacceptable. I felt that Ian Jameson of the Professional Standards Department, appeared to readily accept, certainly the male officer's approach to the situation, and didn't fully appreciate the intimidation perceived by many in the black community. I think that we can all agree it could certainly have been handled better. If only the people gathered protesting outside the bus could have been allowed to pay the young woman's fare . . .