Photo by Wendy Sloane
By London Met Journalism
Detective Constable Shaun Pascal has policing in his blood, as he comes from a family of law enforcement officials. Having worked in the police from more than two decades, he knows a thing or two about knife crime – and puts what he knows to good use.
Previously working as a family liaison officer dealing with Londoners who had lost a loved one to knife crime, he has made a name for himself as an anti-knife crime campaigner and an anti-racist.
Co-founder of Black Wall Street Media, a global online newspaper producing news by and about the Black community, as well as being a long-term school governor, Pascal works hard to make the community a better place.
Probing the police
Is stop and search racist – or is it necessary? That was one of the questions put to Pascal as London Metropolitan University’s recent Journalism newsweek on how to tackle knife crime.
He replied by saying it was definitely necessary – as did the rest of the panel – but that the police could improve their actions to build trust.
Later he was asked how police can make themselves more approachable to families, when many parents are scared to contact them when their children are in trouble.
“It can be down to negative experiences but it’s important to emphasise that many police officers are good people trying to do a good job. That’s something we need to put out there,” he said.
“The problem is vast but it can be fixed.”
Photo by Wendy Sloane
Lessons from gang warfare?
Previously, Pascal worked on an initiative to help combat gang violence, which worked so well that it was even beneficial in solving cold cases.
But because knife crime is so complex, the same approach did not work, he said. “It tells me that this is not a problem that only the police can fix.”
What are the biggest misconceptions the UK public has about knife crime? “People have the perception that it only affects the Black community but we know that’s not true. It cuts across society.”
Spot on the police could do more to improve communication
I Lady Kandrene, support this officer. He is one of the most inspiring police officer that seeks every avenue to help and support our community despite the mishaps of other police officers that people may have encounter. Detective Constable Shaun Pascal has create and pave that way to give people the optimism of holding that reassurance with integrity in making sure that it community is safe but he needs all the police officers to pull themselves together to make his voice be reckoned with for other officers to put themselves forward in helping and supporting families and our uses or on street lost without an identity and seeking solution themselves and we also police officers to help them navigate to a better amount rather than using passive aggression is to have that empathy and compassion to understand their own pain behind their own crimes why they commit them . Keep up the good work, Shaun and Iām absolutely proud of you.šš½