Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of ...

Home Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev w61
The secured loan has been repaid with interest and the £50 million mixed use development is
now the head-quarters for Provident Financial and also has a 200-bed Jury’s hotel, securing and
creating a thousand jobs in the city centre.
6.7.3 Construction of City Park, Bradford’s landmark £24 million regeneration project in the heart of
the city, is well underway and will be completed in early 2012. The six-acre park will contain
the largest city centre water feature in the UK. City Park will create a major events space and
is already attracting direct investment and international interest in the city.
6.7.4 There is a further £1 billion pipeline of planned possible investment in the city centre, including
New Victoria Place, a central business district and Westfield’s Broadway shopping centre.
6.7.5 The confidence large national companies now have in Bradford is illustrated by their enthusiasm
to invest in the district. Provident Financial is opening their new Vanquis Bank call centre in
Bradford and the choice of Bradford by M&S for their biggest European distribution centre, a
1.1m sq ft site at ProLogis Park, represents a clear endorsement of the business benefits that
Bradford District offers.
6.7.6 We have a long and proud history of industrial and commercial innovation in Bradford. Today’s
local businesses, from small enterprises to large nationally-known companies, are maintaining
that tradition. Bradford’s rate of self-employment continues to be well above the Yorkshire and
Humber average, evidencing a strong entrepreneurial culture.
6.7.7 Bradford is now also the world’s first city of film. The UNESCO status reflects Bradford’s
key role historically and in contemporary film. Also the district’s stunning built heritage and
breathtaking scenery which has been the backdrop to many classic films.
7. Bradford’s Response to the 10th Anniversary of the Riots of 2001 in Our City
7.1 The riots of July 2001 had a significant and longstanding impact on Bradford, the effects of which were
felt for many years. For example, as a result of the riots 191 people were given prison sentences totalling more
than 510 years, with the average sentence being four years imprisonment. Also dozens of police officers and
local people were injured as a result of the rioting.
7.2 The Bradford riots were, of course, part of a wave of similar unrest that swept several northern industrial
towns, including Oldham, and Burnley. These riots of 2001 have generally been analysed in terms of
segregation, “parallel lives”, the negative impacts of multiculturalism, and even terrorism, while previous urban
disorder had generally been set within a media narrative of poverty and deprivation.
7.3 City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council and West Yorkshire Police, along with local partner
agencies in the public, private and third sectors were very aware that any negative national media coverage,
including social media, about the “10th anniversary of the Bradford riots” had the potential to damage the
reputation of the city and district. Also it had the potential to damage relations between communities and
undermine the trust in the Police and the Council to ensure public safety.
7.4 Therefore effective communications planning and clear messaging was articulated in a partnership
communications strategy that was widely shared by local organisations and groups across the district. The aim
of partnership communications planning and delivery was to demonstrate that Bradford had moved on and was
looking forward, not back. A number of joint media interviews between the Bradford Divisional Commander
and Leader of the Council were set up in advance of the anniversary which emphasised some of the key points
made in the Communication Strategy. This included the reduction in crime levels over the past 10 years, the
introduction of Neighbourhood Policing and how it reflected the make up of the community. The current
maturity and vibrancy of the city and district was and continues to be promoted through scheduled summer
events, as well as by building on the positive media coverage gained through the way Bradford dealt with the
protests in August 2010.
7.5 Contrary to some untrue and damaging national perceptions, usually voiced by national commentators
who have not visited Bradford for years, Bradford is not deeply divided along racial or cultural lines and the
communities of Bradford do not live “parallel lives.” Obviously there are areas in Bradford where similar
communities live together with a support infrastructure that includes local facilities such as specialist shops
and places of worship, but people from different cultural and economic backgrounds meet each other at work,
at study and at leisure.
7.6 A recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation study backs the view that the “parallel lives” assertion needs to
be reassessed: (“Muslims and Community Cohesion in Bradford”—2010).
Its key findings were:
— “Muslims in the study, in common with participants of other faiths or no faith, tended to meet people
of the same ethnic and religious background at home and religious places, and to meet people of
different ethnic and religious backgrounds outside the home.”
— “Established Muslim male respondents met people from different ethnic and religious backgrounds
in more places than any other group of people in the sample.”