Young people have urged the police to rebuild its relationship with the public following increased “tensions” over the past few months.

Elia Yousf, the Youth MP representing Harrow, addressed police inspector Ed Baildon on the subject of policing in the borough at a Harrow Council scrutiny meeting on Tuesday (July 7).

He argued there has been a “breakdown of trust” between the police and the wider community and that it is “important” to recognise this issue so it can be remedied.

“The police and the community aren’t on very good terms due to several factors, such as the issues with police brutality in America,” he said.

“But there are also issues here, where young people don’t necessarily feel safe around police – I’m curious to see what the police are doing to try and rebuild and rekindle a relationship.”

Mr Baildon said he “appreciates” where Mr Yousf was coming from but suggested this was at odds with wider surveys, with some sections of society still noting a positive relationship with the police.

“We can never rest on our laurels and say we’ve got it perfectly right and we will look to see how we can further reach out to the community,” he added.

It came after Cllr Sachin Shah, chairman of the overview and scrutiny committee, pointed out that black people in Harrow are seven times more likely to get stopped by police than their white counterparts.

He also noted the ongoing investigation into an incident where police officers allegedly took selfies with two murdered black women in a Brent park before sharing them on WhatsApp.

Mr Baildon expressed sadness and anger at this incident and said, if it transpired to be true, it was “fundamentally wrong”.

“I think I speak for 99.9 per cent of people realising that is a disgusting act,” he said.

Despite outlining some issues within policing, the committee expressed gratitude to Mr Baildon and his colleagues for their continued efforts.

“We’re safer because of what you do and for that we are thankful,” Cllr Shah said.

“You put yourself in danger, work long hours and in tough conditions – something many of us couldn’t do.”