Woman left terrified as she was 'racially profiled' by police until she told them her job

Dr Andrea Charles Fidelis spoke on Good Morning Britain on Friday about her harrowing experience of being followed by an angry man who claimed she had stolen his car.

Dr Andrea Charles Fidelis spoke on

Good Morning Britain on Friday about her harrowing experience of being followed by an angry man who claimed she had stolen his car.

She called the police because she was "fearing for her life" but when they arrived, she says they presumed she was the guilty one.

The police allegedly assumed the man was telling the truth and that she had tried to steal his car, and Andrea believes this was due to the colour of her skin.

Kent Police have since apologised for the way they treated Andrea,v which she says suddenly changed when she informed officers she worked at the Ministry of Justice.

"As the police arrived, I was in the office, the station guard leaned out and said, 'She's in here, she's in fear of her life'," Andrea explained.

"And before anything, the police officer said to the station guard, 'She tried to steal a car, she's not in fear of her life.'

"And so then he waded in and told me that I had tried to steal this man's car, and when I said I was frightened, I had been through a trauma and I was confused, he said, 'He had every right to chase you, you tried to steal his car."

She added: "I was just beside myself, really really upset."

She said it was the "assumption of guilt" before the police had any information, that made her believe she was being racially profiled, and she is now scared of the police.

"There is a presumption of guilt to begin with, there's a situation where that particular person who may be a potential victim is not seen as a victim," she said.

"And then there's no empathy or compassion in the equation... When the facts become apparent the narrative should change, but it didn't change, there was a lot more back and forth."Ranvir Singh asked:

"You work for the Ministry of Justice, was it that point when you mentioned your job that you noticed a change in approach from the police officer?"

"Yes it was exactly that, he threatened to arrest me and I said, 'You can't arrest me, I've done nothing wrong'," Andrea replied.

"And then he said, 'What do you do?' and I said I work for the Ministry of Justice, and the direction changed."

She added: "I want to use this platform and this voice to work towards better policing, what about young black men who want fair treatment and service?

"I put a complaint in and it determined that the service was acceptable, and so I think the police reviewing themselves need to think more about the nuances with racial profiling, biased policing and unconscious bias.

"It's not just about racial slurs." 

Reference:Mirror: Verity Sulway 10 hrs ago: 7th August 2020