Bristol poet: 'I was arrested for stealing my own bike'

Miles Chambers believes that Avon and Somerset Police want to change

Bristol's first City Poet laureate has said despite facing racism in the past, the police now want a better relationship with the black community.

Miles Chambers and Avon and Somerset Police are collaborating as part of the force's Race Matters work.

Mr Chambers said he had previously been accused of being a drug dealer and of stealing his own bike.

"These are just a few incidents that spring to mind," Mr Chambers added.

Miles Chambers' poem includes community voices, alongside the perspectives of officers and why they do their job

"After considerable consultation and deliberation with Avon and Somerset Police's communications team, I concluded they want to change.

"They want the black community to see Avon and Somerset Police as their force, and to feel as included and supported as everyone else."

Mr Chambers wrote his poem 'I Want to Be Seen' to share the different viewpoints and feelings that exist when race and policing are discussed, and to portray a vision for the future.

The words of the poem include community voices, sharing people's feelings about being stereotyped and what they want from their police service, alongside officers' perspectives on why they do the job.

Insp Serena Serjeant who features in the film said: "I was really inspired by the Miles Chambers poem. I saw it as an opportunity to continue to help influence change and make a difference not only for the community but for the police.

"I want to see a future where my children won't be having the same conversations about disproportionality and institutional racism and those conversations become part of our history and not our present."

Michelle Powner is a Bristol resident who features towards the end of the film. She said: "Having read the poem, it felt aspirational and certainly my bit at the end of the film is very aspirational.

"I think the poem was made for the wider police force and for them to look introspectively, from the point of view of the community.

"What I would like to see change is that the police see people as just people, and that colour becomes invisible."

Follow BBC West on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]