Croydon could be about the get its first BAME top cop.
Jeff Boothe: tipped to be Borough Commander
According to information shared at a Safer Neighbourhood Team event this week, Andy Tarrant, the present Borough Commander, is to step down and be replaced by Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe.
Boothe, 51, is originally from Thornton Heath and from November will take over responsibility for policing in Croydon after 18 months in a similar job in Bexley.
Boothe has spent the majority of his career in London, including 24 years with British Transport Police. He has extensive Public Order and Events Experience performing key leadership roles for events covering the Olympics, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Notting Hill Carnival and the capital’s New Year’s celebrations.
The news of the appointment of a senior BAME – black, Asian and minority ethnic – officer to take charge of policing in one of the country’s most diverse boroughs comes just a fortnight after the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called for the Met Police to “look like the communities it is charged with keeping safe”.
Khan said: “This is not about tokenism but about building trust and respect between our vital police force and all Londoners.”
According to figures this month, 13 per cent of the Met’s total police workforce is non-white. Boothe is one of 4,033 officers from minorities in the Metropolitan Police, up from 3,163 in 2013.
- Still Croydon’s only independent news source, and based in the heart of the borough: 1.97 million page views 2013-2015
- Inside Croydon: Named among best regional media campaigns, 2014
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, a residents’ or business association or local event to publicise, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
Interesting times ahead
I agree with Sadiq Khan that police should reflect the London communities they police. The Met Police have too few officers whose forbears were black African and Afro-Caribbean and Asian, which seems very different from the big cities in the Eastern half of the US where there seem to be proportionally greater representation. It’s good to see from the Inside Croydon article above, that the proportion in London is increasing. I would guess that young Black and Asian people will feel more likely to want to join the Police if they see people like Mr. Boothe can make it to senior roles and –if they join up– don’t suffer from racism from half-witted or malicious colleagues and superiors.
We need good coppers and the coppers need good managers to be effective. And there are many good Black managers in many fields.
All the best to him– if he gets the job, I am sure we will be in good hands.