BRIXTON'S COMMUNITY GROUPS CALL FOR THE RETURN OF COMMANDER PADDICK

The backlash against the decision to remove Brian Paddick was growing
in unlikely quarters yesterday.

The Lambeth Community Police Consultative Group, traditionally the
type of organisation that would have had little sympathy for a
floundering Brixton police chief, announced it was calling a meeting
at the town hall to demand the commander's reinstatement.

It reflects growing concern that Scotland Yard was in danger of
wrecking the career of an officer who not only enjoyed a unique
relationship with the local community but held the respect of his
officers and was making inroads into crime levels in one of London's
most troubled districts.

Lee Jasper, the consultative group's chairman and the adviser on
policing to Ken Livingstone, London's Mayor, said: "He's a
tremendously effective officer and his unique rapport with the
community has got to be exactly what the Met is looking for to cope
with policing such a diverse population."

Since introducing a controversial policy last July to stop arresting
cannabis users to concentrate on those involved with harder drugs, Mr
Paddick, 43, has driven up drug arrests by 65 per cent while driving
down street crime and burglary. He has also brought other initiatives
aimed at generating greater public support.

By removing drug-sniffer dogs from Brixton police station he drew
criticisms of "Commander Crackpot" from right-wing quarters but won
praise elsewhere, particularly among black communities. He has also
managed to remove some of the mystique from Brixton police station,
the scene of black deaths in custody and, rightly or wrongly, regarded
by many in the area as a symbol of oppression.

Claudette Kenlock, 30, the chairwoman of Lambeth's Independent Custody
Visitors Panel, set up by Lord Scarman to allow visits to those
arrested, said levels of complaints had dried up. She said: "With all
the deaths in custody they have had there, people were very sceptical
about what goes on behind those doors. Hopefully, that is changing. A
lot of the barriers that have been put up are being broken down."

But what makes Commander Paddick extraordinary as a reforming police
chief is that he has the support not only of liberal community support
groups but the bulk of the officers in his charge. Barry Thomas, who
retired as a Brixton police constable last April after 29 years, said
Mr Paddick "cares about his police officers and he cares about the
community". He added: "This is his third visit to Brixton. He was a
sergeant, then a chief inspector in charge of personnel, and now
commander. Ask any of the rank-and-file policemen and they would
prefer him to any other senior officer at Brixton in the past five
years."

A serving Brixton PC, who cannot be named, said Mr Paddick had
introduced himself to every member of staff at the station when he
became commander. He is also respected for visiting long-term sick
officers at home in his own time. "He supports his PCs. He is aware of
their welfare, their feelings and the dangers they go through daily."

The PC said that when tabloid newspapers carried reports of Mr
Paddick's comments on the Net saying he had sympathy with the idea of
anarchism, officers had checked the website for the context. "If you
read the whole piece, as we did in the station, you could see it was
mishandled in the press. One of the officers said, 'What's all the
fuss about?'

"Mr Paddick, a south London grammar schoolboy and Oxford graduate, has
never been a CID officer working on high-profile cases or in the
glamour units of the Met, but Brixton officers respect how he "worked
his way through the ranks".

But support for Mr Paddick is far from unanimous, with concern that
the headlines could be harming the police and confusing the public.
One senior officer said Mr Paddick had courted publicity and had
demonstrated "lack of judgement and naivety". He said: "If you are
going to play with fire be prepared to get your hands burnt. And he
has."