Police withdraws competition to name horse after Bristol Bus Boycott pioneer

Avon & Somerset Police have withdrawn a competition to name a police horse after one of the Bristol Bus Boycott pioneers.

The force says it has made the decision following complaints made by community members.

The competition received criticism due to horses historically being used by the police to suppress protests and in slavery plantations. A petition was also launched against the competition, which has already attracted around 150 signatures.

In a statement, Avon & Somerset Police chief inspector Victoria Hayward Melen said: “Our intention had been to honour the pioneers’ achievements and be part of Bristol’s 60th anniversary celebrations marking this momentous civil rights moment.

“However, we are now aware that the competition has caused some distress within our communities, which was wholly unintentional. For this we are truly sorry.”

As part of the competition, police horse Brutus would have been renamed after one of the six Black pioneers of the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 in an online public vote.

The pioneers were Roy Hackett, Guy Bailey, Owen Henry, Prince Brown, Audley Evans and Raghbir Singh.

The Bristol Bus Boycott was a 1963 protest over the refusal of the Bristol Omnibus Company to employ non-white people, with celebrations taking place in 2023 to honour its legacy.

Last year, a picture of the bus boycott heroes replaced a stained glass window once dedicated to slave trader Edward Colston at St Mary Redcliffe church in Bristol.

But in a petition, Black Think Tank UK wote “naming a police horse after one of these heroes falls short of meaningful recognition in our culture”.

The petition said: “While gestures can be well-intentioned, we believe it is crucial to address the deeper issues of historic racial inequality in police-community relations.

“We feel this divisive competition where only one of the 6 Black Heroes will win the prize to have a police horse named after them, fails to mirror the unity and collaboration these Black heroes successfully demonstrated during the Bus Boycott in 1963.

“Given the fractious history between Avon and Somerset police and the Black community of Bristol, we feel this horse naming competition carries ambiguous connotations.

“It risks being interpreted as a backhanded compliment, further straining police-community relations and unravelling whatever progress has been made in this area.

“Our heroes deserve greater respect and recognition than being reduced to mere names of an animal controlled by the Police force and ridden by a Police officer. We know of no Black hero that wanted to be ridden by a police officer!”

Police had joined forces with Julz Davis of Curiosity Unltd, the organisation behind the 60th Bristol Bus Boycott anniversary celebrations, for the competition.

But the force says it will now “best honour their legacy by owning our mistakes and committing to a better future”.

Inspector Hayward Melen added: “We are committed to being transparent and accountable to our communities, which means not shying away from admitting where we have got something wrong.

“One of our force values is learning, which means that we must listen to what our communities tell us about the decisions we make, how they impact on them and how we can work together going forward.

“Whilst in this situation we recognise that we haven’t got it right, we will take this as an opportunity to reflect and continue conversations with our communities which is so important as we work towards becoming an anti-racist police service.”

“As part of our Race Matters work we’re currently consulting with our communities on changes to policies and procedures which aim to reduce disproportionality and build back the trust and confidence of people who have been harmed by years of traumatic interactions with the police.

“The learning and feedback we have taken from this situation has only strengthened our resolve and focus to do this work in collaboration with communities we serve.”