People attend a vigil for the victims of a road traffic collision on Snowden Road in Ely, Cardiff, on Monday. Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and his best friend Harvey Evans, 15, died in a road accident minutes after they had been involved in a pursuit with police, while riding an electric bike, May 26, 2023
LEADING political and trade union figures have questioned the role of policing in Wales following the deaths of Harvey Evans and Kyrees Sullivan last week on an estate in Ely.
Wales TUC general secretary Shavanah Taj has called for a radical review of policing in Wales in a weekend article about last week’s deaths and subsequent riot on the Cardiff estate.
Writing in Voice.Wales, Ms Taj questioned the statement that police & crime commissioner Alun Michael gave on BBC radio last week denying that there had been a police pursuit of the 15 and 16-year-old friends before their fatal crash.
“Police & crime commissioners continue to be quick off the mark to act as public-relations functionaries for the forces,” she said.
Ms Taj called for a radical rethink in how policing is conducted in Wales and said devolution of policing would not be enough.
“It must be an opportunity to radically rethink the way our communities are policed — and particularly our most deprived, under-resourced communities,” she said.
Cardiff People’s Assembly’s Adam Johannes echoed the call for a radical overhaul of policing and called on Mr Michael to resign.
He said: “Alun Michael’s record as commissioner has always been dismal. His position is now untenable. He must resign.
“For years, successive governments have left poor communities to rot and then heavily policed them as an alternative to radically addressing poverty.
“We not only need an investigation into why the police, police commissioner and the local councillor gave false information about police conduct around the accident but also we need an investigation into how the community was policed on the day of the riots.”
At the weekend, Cardiff West MP Kevin Brennan also questioned the public statement Mr Michael issued denying the police had pursued the two boys.
Plaid Cymru Senedd member for South Wales Central Heledd Fychan said: “Alun Michael has seemingly acted as a spokesperson for South Wales Police rather than the community, and I think he needs to explain why this is.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct failed to answer repeated Morning Star questions about whether Mr Michael’s public statement will be included in its investigation of the deaths of the youngsters.
