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Dr Andrea Charles Fidelis: Police apologise after senior black civil servant accused of car theft while jogging near home

Dr Andrea Charles Fidelis (Linkedin)
Dr Andrea Charles Fidelis (Linkedin)

Police have apologised to a senior black civil servant who says she was "racially profiled" when officers accused her of being a car thief while jogging near her home.

Dr Andrea Charles Fidelis, 41, who works for the Ministry of Justice and sits on the Violent Crime Prevention Board as director of communications, said she was "dehumanised" by an officer in Swanley, Kent on March 29.

She said she was "threatened with arrest" after a man claimed to have seen her leaving his driveway and followed her in the mistaken belief she had tried to steal his car.

The mother of three, who sought sanctuary in a railway station, said officers assumed she was guilty when police arrived to speak with her.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 about the experience, she said when the officer found her at the station, he said "she's not in fear of her life, she tried to steal a car.

"The profile fits you, you tried to steal his car, why wouldn't he chase you, what would he do to you, if he was going to do anything he would have.

"Your'e fit and safe, you can defend yourself."

The mother-of-three told the BBC she was "dismissed by him as not having the capacity to have natural human feelings".

After the incident she later lodged a complaint against the officer, who she claimed had been "biased and discriminatory."

Kent Police said the claims were not upheld by an investigation but the force did apologise to Dr Charles Fidelis "for the way the officer had spoken to her".

The findings of Kent Police's inquiry, shared with Dr Fidelis, said there was no evidence of "discrimination or incivility" and the officer had not breached the force's policy or the law.

A report said the information available to the officer at the time was "sufficient to identify Dr Charles Fidelis as a suspect".

Kent Police said claims the officer had been
Kent Police said claims the officer had been

She told the BBC the force had failed to take account of the "ingrained" racial bias of the officer, who had been "unable to empathise or even see me as a potential victim".

"Throughout this whole saga I have not been treated equally to my white accuser," she wrote in a blog.

"The embodiment of black people being seen first as criminals, rather than victims has played out at every stage from start to finish."

The experience left her feeling "brutalised" and "frightened to go out", she added.

The 41-year-old, who first joied the civil service in her early twenties, said she had been aware of a "deeply held resentment in the black community towards policing", but had previously had a "really positive experience with the police".

However she said her treatment had provided a "painful insight into how it plays out."

Kent Police said it "takes all complaints relating to racial discrimination seriously".

It said Dr Charles Fidelis had "appealed against the outcome of the complaint and this is now in the hands of the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) to allow the matter to be considered independently".

The IOPC said it was assessing the appeal.