Force's antisemitism training 'not yet finalised'

The acting head of West Midlands Police has said training on antisemitism is still being finalised and has not yet been rolled out to officers.

It comes after a row over Macabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from a football match in Birmingham in November, following a flawed report published by the force.

Scott Green, the force's acting chief constable, told the BBC he was "determined to learn all the lessons" he could from the mistakes that were made.

Green took on the role in January following Craig Guildford's retirement after both Downing Street and the home secretary said they had lost confidence in his leadership.

Green said on his first day in office he had offered an immediate and unreserved public apology to the Jewish community over damage caused by the force's involvement in the Macabi Tel Aviv decision.

He said also made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct to investigate the decision-making of senior officers related to the situation.

Green, who met with members of the Jewish community during his first week in the role recently met with members of the Muslim community, said the force had already been in the process of relaunching its diversity, equality and inclusion strategy - which included its approach to relationships with the different communities it served - when the row broke out.

The strategy included aspects of how it worked with black, Islamic, Jewish and LGBT communities.

"We're working really hard with a number of organisations that represent Jewish communities to ensure that product we roll out is really well-informed and supported by those communities."

He said it had not been finalised, but would be "in the next month or so".

When asked if he thought people might be surprised that it had taken so long, he said he had only been in post for six weeks and did not want to rush the process.

"What I'm determined to do, is that we deliver the very best product that we can to our officers and staff," he said.

"We don't rush it."

He said the chief officer team would be the first to receive the training.

He said because the West Midlands force area included a diverse range of communities, the impact of global events often affected people who lived there.

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