The Endless Cycle: Met Police's Violent and Invasive Racial Profiling of Black Children Continues Unchecked.

In the heart of London, the weathered and storied pavements have silently witnessed regal parades, anti-war protests, and civil rights protests over many years. London, the capital city, is often seen as the shining city on the hill. London has the rightful claim to be a world city, hyper-multicultural, vibrant, and exciting. 

Of late, however, we have also witnessed the spectre and shadowed lived experiences of Black children being racially profiled, beaten and strip-searched by an increasingly aggressive and confrontational Metropolitan Police Service. 

Terrell DeCosta Jones Burton

There are many cases one could highlight, but the case of a 15-year-old schoolboy, Terrell DeCosta Jones Burton, who, in 2017, was subject to a brutal attack by Met Police Officers is particularly noteworthy. Terrell received critical hospital treatment following his brutal, wrongful, and violent arrest while cycling in Bermondsey, South London.

Here, we see a beautiful young soul whose only misstep was existing at the deadly intersection of systemic police racism, adolescence, and being in possession of melanated skin. In a tired old repeat of our tragic history, the Police had targeted the wrong boy. Despite that, the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC) unsurprisingly cleared Met officers of any wrongdoing in 2019 two years later. 

Terrell, his family, and the wider community are left to swing in the wind. The response to our anger and outrage? No trauma-informed treatment, no apology, no compensation, no justice – just us, and a bucket load of tears and pain with a community left in the deep well of perpetual trauma. 

Add to the Terrell incident, the savage baton attack by a plain-clothed police officer on a schoolboy in Romford in 2018, yet another incident where the community is again left in deep pain, and the officer concerned is given the all-clear and a pardon.

Add to these the cases of:

The case of 12-year-old Kia Agyepong

of Islington, who was playing with a toy plastic gun in his home on a summer evening in 2020 when a neighbour reported seeing a Black man with a gun in the property.  The Met armed response squad burst into his family home, which he shared with his Mum and two elder sisters. The police swat team raided her property and arrested her son. 
 

Or the horrific case of Child Q, a Black 15-year-old schoolgirl in 2022 who was forcibly stripped, searched in school by Met officers and forced to remove her Tampon on the basis that she smelled of cannabis.

And more recently, in 2023, we saw the case of Child X, who, when playing outside with a water pistol during the school holidays with his younger sister, was reported by a police officer as having a gun and rammed off his scooter by a van of armed police officers, surrounded by armed police, handcuffed and whose mother was told when she protested that they nearly killed her son was dismissed and told, “You’re being aggressive, and you’re lucky we're not arresting him for possession of a imitation firearm.”  

The Snail Pace of Policing Reform.

When it comes to the issue of police reform, change has been bone-achingly slow-moving at a glacial pace. The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) Police Race Action Plan, the Met Commissioners Turn Around Plan alongside Mayor Sadiq Khans Race Action Plan, all responses to the findings of the Casey Review are, have all failed to deliver any meaningful change - a testament to the resilience of racism in policing. 

We now know that many of the advances made in the immediate aftermath of the publication of the seminal Stephen Lawrence report published in 1999, in hindsight, were short-term gains followed by longer-term losses.  The Police began the lengthy process of rebuilding and regaining Black community confidence in those early years; however, that brief honeymoon period didn’t last long. 

Book your ticket today. 

Within a decade of the publication of the McPherson report, Boris Johnson was Mayor of London and busily dismantling the entire police accountability and race monitoring systems and processes we fought so long and hard to secure. Boris, alongside the then Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson, declared in the forward to a 2008 Metropolitan Police Authority Race and Faith Inquiry report into Black officers being unfairly targeted in misconduct procedures that Met was "no longer an institutionally racist organisation." 

Johnsons' catastrophic error in dismantling police accountability structures in London had devastating consequences and triggered the worst deterioration in police-community relationships ever seen in modern British history. Black public confidence in the police is at an all-time low, lower than the levels seen in the uprising against the culture of police racism witnessed in 1981 or 2011. The National Black Police Association (NBPA) has called a national Black police recruitment for the third time in its long history; such is their concern about the fact that the Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has refused to acknowledge systemic racism while internally he has launched a full-scale political attack on the NBPA and Met BPA. 

What this demonstrates beyond doubt is that Black people have consistently boycotted joining the police in recent times, and these figures demonstrate that reality. 

Let’s be straight up and down about it, Black people are not joining a “police force” they see as toxic, racist and harmful.  A report published by the Police Foundation in 2020 found that Black officer numbers had reached their peak of 1,504 in 2016 and rose by just 86 between 2007 and 2018, from 1,412 to 1,498.  

That’s an average of seven black people a year in each of those long eleven years. Today, applications have slowed to barely a trickle, and Black people are rightly refusing to join a police service they see as racist, aggressive, hostile and now targeting their children. 

We know that the weight of constant suspicion, the presumption of guilt, bears heavily upon their young shoulders. London's Black children, living their best racially profiled lives, face a policing system where systemic police racism is as toxic as the iconic London smog that once blanketed this great city.

The Data Speaks, But Who Listens?

What these shocking figures have revealed is a disheartening narrative. Black, Asian, and mixed-ethnicity children account for an astonishing 69% of youth arrests in London. Such figures reflect not random chance but a pattern of targeting, a systemic hunt set against Black communities.

The hard numbers are one thing, but we don’t live as data points. Statistics, however compelling, are sterile without the pulse of human experience. 

They do not bleed, they do not weep, and they do not convey the tremor in a mother’s voice as she schools her child on how to survive an encounter with those who should protect them.

The Trauma Imposed: The Echo of History in Modern Policing

The scars left by this relentless racial profiling of our communities are not only physical but cut deep into the communal psyche. 

Cases like Child A, Q and X are not outliers but a repeat of a well-trodden path of systemic discrimination in policing. The disproportionate searching, the aggressive arrests without subsequent action, the ignominy of innocence lost to police prejudice—all this fuels a cycle of trauma, fear and anger that reverberates through families and communities. 

Our collective community police trauma is deep, abiding and terrifying. As Black parents, we are always a single heartbeat away from experiencing our children being brutalised by the Met. That trauma is lived and real, and unless there is some process of recognising and managing that community trauma, it will continue to seethe. 

God forbid a child should die as a consequence of violent police arrest and systemic racism that legitimises racial profiling because, at that point, all hell will break loose. You would’ve thought these smart politicians would know these totemic issues and understand their power and potency. They do not, and the implications are that the city hasn't learned the lessons of its past. 

A System Unchecked: The Spectre of Adultification and Misguided Authority

The haunting spectre of adultification looms larger every day, casting Black children not as sentient human beings of potential and wide-eyed curiosity but as all potentially violent criminals, threats to society and law and order, to be violently confronted, restrained with overwhelming force. 

This deeply pernicious and explosive trend must be fully acknowledged, challenged, and must be confronted by Black communities ourselves as, frankly, no one else gives a damn. The APA is resolute in its mission to ring the alarm, mobilise communities and stand at the vanguard of this battle, demanding reforms and transparent accountability from politicians and the police. 

The Call to Arms: A Rallying Cry for Justice

It is not enough to shake our heads at the monotonous and unsettling statistics or tsk, tsk away at the harrowing stories above. This is a call to arms, a call for unity and action. We must stop simply reacting to tragedies we can all see coming. 

As responsible adults, we need to be proactive in defending our Black children and do recall that 90% of our children who are arrested are subsequently released without charge. Let that sink in. 

The APA conference aims to prevent an all too predictable future because the real reality is that as relations stand now, it would take just one horrific incident caught on a smartphone London could find itself burning as a result. 

Conclusion: A Society on the Precipice

London’s Black community now stands on the precipice, looking into the chasm of public confidence carved by the relentless nature of systemic police racism that, like water, wears away all resistance. We now face a profound choice: do we, knowing what we know now, simply step back into complacency, or do we organise and stride forward into action? 

The disproportionate arrest rates and systemic failures of a policing system are not just statistics; they are a grim testament to the reality of the system of apartheid policing and Jim Crow justice that others sanitise with semi-pseudo-scientific police and Home Office beaurospeak (made-up word), using words like “disproportionality:, ‘unconscious and implicit bias’s and ‘diversity’, or ‘we are committed to eradicating racism’, and the best one of all is of course ‘we are working with the community’. 

We are the sculptors of justice and the architects of the future we wish to bequeath to our children. 

The APA Conference on Policing and the Black Child has to be more than an event—it must be the crucible where we forge a new charter of demands for policing, where the concerns of Black communities are taken to the top table. We collectively demand that our children be safeguarded from the horrors of systemic racism in policing. 

A Final Thought: The Vigilance of Change

We understand that our work is not done. Our generation must be the bearers of change, lest the next find themselves burdened with battles that should have been won. The data, the cases, and the experiences all point to an immutable truth: the time for change is not just nigh; it has arrived.

Join us at the APA conference. Stand with us in fighting for justice and equity and preserving our youth's future. Let us begin the work that cannot, must not, wait.

Key Arrest Statistics and Demographics

·      69% of children arrested in London are from Black, Asian, or mixed-ethnicity backgrounds.

·      Black and Asian communities each account for 8% of all arrests nationwide.

Disparities in Policing

·      Evidence suggests racial profiling and systemic bias within UK policing.

·      Black and Asian individuals are more likely to be stopped and searched.

Media and Political Influence

· Some politicians and media outlets perpetuate harmful stereotypes, associating Black and Asian communities disproportionately with a crime.

Data on Taser Use

·      27.5% of Taser incidents involved Black children.

·      27.5% of Taser incidents involved children experiencing a mental health episode.

·      17-year-olds were the most affected age group.

Strip-search Data

·      More than 2,840 children were strip-searched by police between 2018 and 2022.

·      Black children are up to six times more likely to be searched.

·      Over 50% of searches led to no further action.

·      A significant number of searches occurred without an appropriate adult present.

Youth Justice System Statistics

·      Black children are disproportionately represented at various stages of the justice system.

·      18% of stop and searches (where ethnicity was known) involve Black children.

·      15% of arrests involve Black children.

·      34% of children in custody on remand are Black.

·      29% of the youth custody population is Black (up from 18% ten years ago).

End. 

The New Jim Crow? Racial Disparities Skyrocket in UK's Criminal Justice System.

 Systematic Failure: Unmasking Englands and Wales Jim Crow Justice.

The recent findings by the United Nations on racial disparities within the UK's criminal justice

system is not just a revelation but a condemnation of a deep-seated systemic failure. These findings lay bare a truth that communities of colour in the UK have experienced for decades: a justice system steeped in racial bias that perpetuates inequality and undermines the very foundation of justice and equality it purports to uphold. As an ardent advocate for racial equality and a chair of the Alliance of Police Accountability, I see these revelations not merely as data points but as an urgent call to dismantle a fundamentally flawed system.

The Stark Reality of Racial Disparities

Historical and recent data expose a grim picture: Black Britons and other ethnic minorities are systematically targeted and disproportionately affected by policing practices. Stop and search tactics, a long-contested aspect of UK policing, are a clear example. Black individuals are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched than their White counterparts. This is not just a statistic—it is a daily violation of dignity and rights, perpetuating a cycle of mistrust and fear.

The disparities do not stop at police encounters. Once within the grips of the criminal justice system, Black and Minority Ethnic individuals are more likely to be arrested and, upon conviction, receive harsher and longer sentences compared to White individuals charged with similar offences. This biased treatment extends through every layer of the system, from the streets to the courtrooms, eroding trust and deepening the divides in our communities.

Voices from the Front Lines

The human impact of these systemic injustices is profound. Personal stories from those affected paint a harrowing picture of racial profiling and its repercussions. Consider Michael, a young Black man from London whose routine stop escalated into an arrest that has marred his future. Michael's story is not an isolated incident but a manifestation of a pervasive pattern of racial profiling that sees Black individuals as suspects first and citizens second.

The structural roots of these disparities are complex, embedded in outdated policies, a pervasive lack of accountability, and a policing culture that often operates on implicit biases rather than evidence. This system doesn't just fail its citizens; it actively participates in a form of structural violence against minority communities.

Demanding Radical Change

The data and narratives bring us to an inescapable conclusion: the UK's criminal justice system as it currently stands is a relic of racial injustice that must be confronted and dismantled. This is not the time for superficial reforms or half-measures. The system requires a radical overhaul that starts with acknowledging these biases and committing to transformative changes.

It's imperative to scrutinise the effectiveness of the many initiatives and demand accountability and real, substantive changes to uproot racial disparity from the fabric of our criminal justice system.

Current Responses and Initiatives

Despite longstanding evidence of racial disparities, the responses from UK authorities have been woefully inadequate, largely characterised by superficial, largely cosmetic reforms that fail to address the root causes of systemic racism within the criminal justice system. As we delve into these initiatives, it becomes apparent that what has been touted as progress is often little more than a veneer, masking the lack of substantive change.

Analyzing the Police Race Action Plan

One of the more publicised responses has been the National Police Chiefs Council's Police Race Action Plan, intended to address racial disparities in policing practices. While the plan acknowledges the existence of racial biases and proposes measures to mitigate them, its effectiveness remains questionable. The plan is already failing, notwithstanding the efforts of its Independent Scrutiny Board, which lacks resources and robust mechanisms for accountability. 

The Board, two years on since its launch and made up of good people, is already disempowered and undermined to the point where it does not sufficiently challenge the entrenched practices that perpetuate racial profiling and discrimination. It is a response that seems to tick boxes rather than initiate the deep-seated reforms necessary to dismantle institutional racism.

The Public Sector Equality Duty: A Missed Opportunity

The Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010 mandates that public authorities, including the police, must eliminate discrimination and advance equality. However, implementing this duty has been inconsistent since the mandatory positive duty in the Act was removed by PM Boris Johnson. As a result, there is a significant gap between the spirit of the duty and its practical application. The amended duty has not been the catalyst for change that it was envisioned to be, largely due to weak enforcement and a lack of serious penalties for non-compliance. The positive diuty should be fully restored to the Human Rights Act.

Limited Community Involvement and Oversight

Community involvement in monitoring and reforming police practices has been another concern. While some police forces have made efforts to engage with communities, these initiatives often lack depth and do not provide communities with real power to influence policing policies or hold the police accountable. Community panels and advisory groups, where they exist, often have limited scope and authority, reducing their effectiveness as tools for genuine engagement and reform. The APA provides the perfect vehicle to begin the process of community mobilisation, organisation and co-production of a 21st-century anti-racist policing charter.

The Role of Data and Transparency

Transparency remains a critical issue. The collection and publication of data on racial disparities in policing are inconsistent, making it difficult to assess the impact of reforms or hold authorities accountable. Without comprehensive and publicly accessible data, it is nearly impossible for communities and policymakers to understand the scope of the problems or verify the effectiveness of the measures purported to address them.

The current landscape of initiatives aimed at addressing racial disparities in the UK's criminal justice system is a patchwork of incomplete solutions and unfulfilled promises. The lack of meaningful progress is not just a failure of policy but a failure of will—a reflection of a system resistant to changes that would genuinely protect and serve all its citizens equally.

That is why the APA want to develop a local Police Monitoring Group, serviced by Policing Observatories with Universities and local communities, to provide independent data scrutiny capability.

Critical Analysis and Recommendations for Systemic Reform.

For over two decades, the UK's criminal justice system has been critiqued for its racial disparities, yet substantial progress remains elusive. This systemic inertia reflects not just a failure of policies but a deeper resistance within the system to acknowledge and address the root causes of racial injustice. As we critically analyze the efforts thus far and their shortcomings, it becomes evident that only a constitutional and rights-based approach can bring the necessary transformative changes. Progress is akin to someone trying to carry water in a basket and subject to the same laws of ever-diminishing returns.

Analysing the Shortcomings

The interventions attempted over the past 25 years, from diversity initiatives to inclusion training and action plans, have largely skirted around the deeper issues of systemic racism. While commendable in intention, these measures have failed to dismantle the entrenched biases that govern law enforcement operations and the broader justice system. The lack of substantial progress can be attributed to several factors:

• Superficial Reforms: Many initiatives are superficial and do not address the systemic nature of racial bias in policing and judicial decisions. They fail to alter the fundamental practices or power structures within the police and the criminal justice system.

• Lack of Accountability: There is a significant accountability gap, as law enforcement agencies are not held to stringent standards for reducing disparities. Without strict accountability and transparent oversight, superficial reforms continue to be the norm.

• Inadequate Community Empowerment: While some efforts have been made to involve communities, they often lack the power to effect real change. True community empowerment involves giving communities authority and resources to hold the police and justice system accountable.

• Resistance to Change: There is an underlying resistance to change within the system, often manifested in the reluctance to reevaluate and reform long-standing practices contributing to racial disparities.

• Lack of a Black community agenda and radical mass-based national campaigning organisation demanding and pursuing much-needed radical reforms.

Constitutional and Rights-Based Recommendations

To move beyond the cycle of ineffective reforms, the UK must adopt a bold, constitutional approach grounded in human rights principles. Here are actionable recommendations designed to enshrine duties and protect the rights of all citizens:

• Establish a Legal Framework for Racial Equality: Implement a robust legal framework that addresses racial disparities in the criminal justice system. This should include laws prohibiting racial discrimination in employment, goods and services and requiring active measures to promote racial equality.

• Mandatory Racial Impact Assessments: Introduce mandatory assessments for all new policing policies and practices, ensuring they are scrutinized for potential racial biases before implementation.

• Enhanced Oversight Mechanisms: Strengthen oversight mechanisms by establishing an independent national body with the power to investigate, sanction, and enforce changes in police departments that fail to meet racial equality standards.

• Community Control of Policing: Empower communities through legally binding mechanisms that allow them to oversee local police operations, including budget decisions and appointing chief officers.

• Comprehensive Data Collection and Transparency: Mandate comprehensive data collection on all aspects of the criminal justice process, disaggregated by race, to be publicly accessible. This transparency will facilitate accountability and informed policymaking.

• Education and Training Reform: Overhaul police training to focus on cultural competency, anti-racism, and the historical context of racial issues in policing. Education should be ongoing and involve experts from minority communities.

• National Reconciliation Process: Initiate a national reconciliation process that addresses historical injustices and works towards healing and rebuilding trust between law enforcement and racialized communities.

Theological, Philosophical, and Political Foundations

The demands for systemic reform are deeply rooted in the theological principles of justice, equality, and the inherent dignity of every individual, echoing the biblical admonition to "act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8). Philosophically, the reforms reflect the ideals of the Enlightenment that emphasize the rights of individuals and the responsibility of the state to protect these rights. Politically, they draw on the democratic principle that governments should be of the people, by the people, and for the people, inclusive of all races and backgrounds.

Conclusion: A Call for Courageous Leadership

The path to reform is fraught with challenges, but it is necessary to establish a just and equitable society. It requires courageous leadership willing to confront uncomfortable truths and dismantle long-standing structures of power and privilege. As a society, we must demand and support this transformative change, ensuring that future generations inherit a criminal justice system that is truly just and reflective of the principles of equality and human rights. This journey towards reform is not only a legal and social necessity but a moral imperative that speaks to the core of what it means to uphold the dignity of every person and the collective well-being of our society.

The Alliance of Police Accountability is set to host a pivotal event titled "Policing and The Black Child in London: Establishing Accountability and Monitoring Framework in partnership with the University of East London, PEIL Centre, on 18 May 2024 from 10 am - 4 pm.

This event underscores the urgent necessity for a London-wide accountability framework to address the deep concerning trend of violent arrests involving Black children by the Metropolitan Police. Such troubling incidents not only demonstrate profound systemic racial disparities within the Met but also highlight the critical need for robust mechanisms to ensure transparency and fairness in policing practices. 

The establishment of this framework is vital for addressing the significant traumatic impacts experienced by Black children. It is essential for restoring and rebuilding community trust in the Met—a trust currently at a historic low. By focusing on transparency, equity, and community engagement, this initiative aims to lead by example in fostering a safer, more just environment for all Londoners, particularly its most vulnerable young residents. This effort will address immediate concerns and lay the foundational groundwork for enduring trust and cooperation between law enforcement and the communities they are meant to serve. 

For more info, email: APAInfo@protonmail.com

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Met Police: 68% of all children arrested in London are Black or Asian. The vast majority are not charged with any offence.

The government recently published its Statistics on Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System 2022, published by the Ministry of Justice via Section 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991. What Black and Asian communities are confronted with is a stark, unsettling, unacceptable reality that cannot be tolerated. The data, more than just numbers, narrates a long tale of historic and contemporary, deep-seated culture of systemic racism within the UK's policing system. Amidst this troubling landscape, the most harrowing revelation is the disproportionate arrest rates of London’s Black and Asian youth—a demographic ensnared by a Jim Crow justice system that is rigged against them from the start. A Deep Dive into the Disparity 

There is a small shift in the wind, or so the numbers suggest. The proportion of stop and searches for white individuals has jumped from 60% to 69%, while those for Black and Asian communities have seen a decrease. Yet, this statistic might mask the absolute realities—the total number of Black and Asian individuals stopped and searched may not have decreased at all, hinting at a broadened net of scrutiny rather than a fair redistribution of focus. Arrests by Ethnicity: A Skewed Scale In the fiscal year 2022/23, white individuals accounted for 78% of all arrests. Black and Asian communities, making up significantly smaller proportions of the population, were each responsible for 8% of arrests.  

This disproportionality not only defies all logic but also demonstrates the entrenched systemic bias and racial profiling entrenched within policing practices. 

Reading sections of the British media and listening to some politicians and social media influencers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Black and Asian people commit the vast majority of crime in the UK.  

These shocking figures will, no doubt, be routinely ignored by many in the media and countless numbers of worthless politicians – all hooked on the toxic and contagious social disease of racism - the political metaphorical equivalent of “crack cocaine” and just as addictive. 

Black and Asian Youth in the Crossfire
Perhaps the most damning statistic of all is that 69% of children arrested in London belong to Black, Asian or mixed-ethnicity youth. This figure stands in sharp contrast to their demographic representation in the capital, underscoring the reality of a culture of racial profiling that is subject all to the devastating consequences of a culture of apartheid-style policing and Jim Crow justice. 

When juxtaposed with the broader landscape of England and Wales, where Blacks and Asians account for 56% of London's arrests compared to a mere 17% in other regions, the data speaks volumes about the Met's racially targeted policing strategies employed in the capital. 

If you’re a Black or Asian child living in London, the Mets already have a target on your back. The Road Ahead: Calls for Reform This systemic racism, a blight on the UK's criminal justice system, demands urgent, sweeping reforms. 

The data presented in the Statistics on Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice System 2022 report indicates not merely the scandalous depth of this problem but reinforces a national clarion call for immediate action. The new generation of Black and Asian Londoners demand radical anti-racist action on policing. 

We will not tolerate the routine ideological denials and the gutless, cynical political manoeuvrings of the
Commissioner of the Met and this hapless Government. We need a policing system that eradicates racial profiling, fosters meaningful community engagement, and guarantees equitable treatment for all, irrespective of ethnicity or background. Conclusion: A Call to Arms The disproportionate arrest rates of Black and Asian youth in the UK are not just statistics; they're a grim testament to the systemic failures and biases of a policing system in dire need of overhaul. 

As we digest these numbers, let's not lose sight of the individuals behind them—youth whose potential 

and futures are being obliterated and compromised by an apartheid-style policing and criminal justice system. 

That's why the APA is committed to working with Black communities across the UK to develop a 21st Black Policing Charter that consults with and asks UK Black communities for the first time: What do you want from policing? The time for change is now; anything less is a disservice to the principles of justice and equity this country claims to uphold. It is vital the next generation of young leaders are equipped with the tools to rake this battle forward. 

It is immense personal sorrow for me that my generation didn't complete the mission. we may have pushed things forward, but without constant vigeleince, as we have seen with the demise of the Stephen Larence Report, the system has the inate capacity to absorb pressure, sometime waiting years until inevetiabley, the heat dies down and then the institutions snaps back to its default setting of systemic racism and business as usual. 

That why we need radical systemic, legaslitive and constitutional change if we are to guarantee that the next generation have this yoke lifted, and are not sucked into an style Amerciansied future, of urban decay, armed police, wholsealse sytsmic racism.  There is a reason the Governemt is building 20,000 new jail cells. 

Each one of these prison cells could have your child name already on the door if thyve been excluded from school. The government calculates the number of prison cells it will need by assessing the nomber of school exclusions. This the School to Prison pipeline. Such is the correlation between school exclusions  and rates of imprisonment. 

The consequences of failure to begin the processes of addressing these issues do not bear thinking about, but make no mistake, they are well understood. We are two years away from the 1985 Brixton and Tottenham. Uprisings erupted in response to the Met police shooting of Cherry Groce in Brixton.  With frustrations at boiling point, with people being patronised, marginalised and criminalised in equal measure and with a political class that is long on rhetoric and short results when it comes to acknowledgeing the reality of systemic racism in policing, the capital is a ry as bone tinder box; it only will take one summer spark to ignite. 

We know all too well the savage costs that are extracted post any uprisings, a terrible price is paid in terms of the human and economic cost to our community.  Lucicirous sentencing, dracononian laws introduced , entirecommunities demonised by the media. 

There ae some in our community who argue that a 'riot' is good for the police and the government and through wilfully igniarance and  neglect they're wiling to let things rip, if this serves their wider political purpose. 

This why it is vital that all, do we do all we can now to avoid a repeat of tragic history. We’re ringing the alarm. Let's hope that not everybody’s tone deaf otherwise its dejua vu.  Its a sad but inevitable truth that when it comes to tackling systemic police racism, a city that refuses to learn will inevitably burn. 

Date for your dary the APA Polocing and the Black Child Confrence will be held on 18th May 2024 at Univeristy of East London, Starfford.  Details to be announce soon. Follow @apavoices on X Email: APAInfo@protonmail.com

Challenging Systemic Racism in London's Policing: A Call for Urgent Reform and Accountability

The essence of fair policing, underscored by the principle of procedural justice, is foundational to fostering trust and cooperation between the public and the police. It's a simple yet profound concept: when people perceive policing decisions as fair and officers as positively engaging with communities, it enhances trust. It strengthens the social fabric, encouraging adherence to the law. However, the path to achieving this ideal is fraught with challenges, particularly when it comes to the disproportionate impact of police decisions on Black and Asian communities.  

Disproportionality in policing decisions does not merely signal potential bias; it undermines the very legitimacy and consent-based model of British policing. It is a fundamental breach of the social contract between police and the public. 

The historical and contemporary inability to provide clear explanations for this disproportionality only fuels suspicions of discrimination, severing the delicate threads of trust between the police. 

Black and asian communities 

The importance of understanding and scrutinising the police's use of powers, particularly those with life-altering consequences like arrest and detention, cannot be overstated. Yet, despite acknowledgements of the need to enhance racial justice within policing frameworks and various reviews recommending action, the journey towards tangible progress remains painstakingly slow. The Lammy review, for instance, was a significant step in highlighting racial disparities within the criminal justice system, but it lacked specific directives for policing. Similarly, the National Police Chiefs Council. Police Race Action Plan's commitment to an 'explain or reform' approach has yet to materialise into actionable change. 

This bone-aching inertia is not just a failure of implementation but reflects a deeper lack of leadership and commitment at government and senior policing levels. The Equality Act 2010 and subsequent mandates have outlined clear duties for the police to eliminate discrimination and foster equality. Yet, there's a glaring absence of any credible or coherent strategy to address racial disparities in policing decisions. The piecemeal performative and cosmetic approach, focusing primarily on areas like stop and search, falls short of addressing the systemic nature of these disparities. Moreover, the underutilisation of community scrutiny mechanisms, as received by Black Thrive, further exacerbates the issue. 

While there are glimpses of positive initiatives like custody scrutiny panels, a comprehensive and consistent framework for community-led scrutiny across all aspects of policing remains elusive. The disparity in police decision-making and its unchecked progression into broader criminal justice outcomes for ethnic minority groups call for an urgent and holistic reevaluation of policing practices. The call for transparency, accountability, and community engagement in policing is not new. Yet, the persistent gaps in data recording and analysis, coupled with a reluctance to fully embrace community scrutiny, underscore a systemic reluctance to confront these disparities head-on. 

The acknowledgement by various governmental and policing bodies of the operational necessity to address racial justice marks a recognition of the problem on one level. Still, it falls significantly short of the concerted action required to dismantle the entrenched biases within the system. As we navigate through the complex landscape of policing and racial justice, the need for a unified, strategic approach that goes beyond tokenistic measures is clear. 

Establishing an independent body to oversee and scrutinize policing decisions, as recommended by consultations and reviews, represents a crucial step forward. Only through genuine collaboration, transparency, and a steadfast commitment to reform can we hope to rebuild trust and ensure that policing by consent is a reality for all communities, irrespective of their racial or ethnic backgrounds. In essence, the journey towards equitable policing is not merely about rectifying disparities in decision-making. It's about fundamentally transforming the ethos and practices of policing to reflect the principles of fairness, accountability, and respect for all individuals. 

The path forward demands more than acknowledgement; it requires an actionable commitment to change, spearheaded by a coalition of government, policing bodies, and communities working together to forge a future where justice is truly blind to race.

Met Police Dismisses 98% of Racism Complaints. Ninety Eight Percent.

Sir Mark Rowley speaking at the Policy Exchange, a right-wing policy think tank. 

In the wake of the recent data on the disciplinary sanctions for racism within the Metropolitan Police Service (the Met), our community stands at a disheartening juncture. The figures are not just numbers; they paint a vivid picture of systemic discrimination and a culture of institutional racism deeply embedded within the fabric of the Met. A mere glance at the success rates of public race complaints against the Met reveals an uncomfortable truth: these complaints have little to no chance of succeeding.

This reality explains why no one has any confidence in this sham of a police complaints process presided over by a political Commissioner who, when it comes to racism, has bought fully into this government's cynical perspective on systemic racism as demonstrated by the totally discredited report by Lord Tony Sewell and their cynical and divisive "war on the woke." 

The Metropolitan Police Service's handling of racial complaints underlines systemic discrimination, a concern validated and definitively proven by the Casey Review's findings on institutional racism within the Met. Casey's Review highlights a complex, dysfunctional policing culture resistant to acknowledging and addressing racial biases, misogyny and homophobia. Casey also raises concerns about the Met's targeting of Black and Asian police officers in misconduct cases. 

The Met's near-zero success rate in positively resolving racial complaints is a scandal in a hyper-diverse city like London. This City needs a Commissioner fit for the 21st century, not one whose view of racism can be traced back to Dixon of Dock Green. 

Urgent radical reforms are now needed to avoid the inevitable rerun of 2011. Either the City learns, or it will burn, and nobody wants that. The Mayor, the new Home Secretary, and, at some point, a new Commissioner (credible sources are saying Rowley will be gone after the general election) need to urgently focus on introducing transparent processes, accountable actions, and independent oversight to rebuild community trust and dismantle the legacy of institutional racism. 

Any new systems must be independently funded and co-produced by London Black communities as recommended by the Black Thrive report  that consulted thousands of Black Londoners.  

The call for urgent and radical change is now more pressing than ever.

During the 2019/20 period, out of 346 race discrimination allegations made by the public, only 12 officers received disciplinary sanctions that resulted in actions beyond "Not Proven" or "No Action." This trend worsened in 2020/21, with only 10 officers disciplined out of 584 allegations. This equates to a success rate of approximately 3.47% in 2019/20, plummeting to about 1.71% in 2020/21. The chances of a sex complaint resulting in disciplinary action were similarly dismal.

@Lee Jasper 

These scandalously low success rates are more befitting a despotic regime than a modern, democratic society's police force. They are almost Orwellian in nature, reminiscent of the figures one might have expected from the South African apartheid regime in the 1980s—a time and place where the concept of justice for the oppressed was nothing more than a cruel joke.

What does this say about the complaints process within the Met? 

Clearly, it is not working, not for a purpose and is, in fact, deeply counterproductive. It fails to hold officers accountable for their actions and maintaining and building the community's trust. The system's inability and unwillingness to address grievances against racist officers sends a message that Black Londoner's concerns are neither valid nor important. This, in turn, corrodes community confidence and trust in the police, further widening the deep chasm between the Met and the very people it is supposed to protect and serve.

 Since George Floyd's Murder: A Decline Amidst Promises

The murder of George Floyd in 2020 sparked global outrage and a pledge for sweeping anti-racist reforms within police forces worldwide, including the Met. Yet, the data post-2020 tells a story of promises unfulfilled. 

Despite public commitments from the National Police Chief Council and the introduction of the Mayor of London's Race Action Plan, the likelihood of the Met successfully addressing race complaints has not improved; in fact, it has decreased. 

This divergence between commitment and action deepens the racism wound and starkly highlights the chasm between the Comissioner's liberal rhetoric and the racist reality. The never-ending series of police statements committing to radical anti-racist change now ring hollow in the minds of London's Black communities. But ask not for whom the hollow bell rings; it rings for thee. 

The Metropolitan Police Service Political Attack on Black and Asian Officers 

This systemic inertia is further exemplified by the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) recent racially motivated misconduct investigation against Charles Ehikioya, Chair of the Met Black Police Association (Met BPA). This overtly political act of suppression underscores the systemic racism ingrained deep within the MPS—a reality grimly outlined by a wide range of national Black organisations united in decrying this targeting by an eager Commissioner is we beleive as an egregious extension of the government's ideological 'war on the woke'. The clock is ticking on this Commissioner. He's run out of road in his desperate attempt to convince us he's the man to confront and dismantle the MPS's culture of racism and discrimination.

There are very few self-respecting Black people or organisations in London who genuinely believe the Met can reform itself under his command. 

His supporters, such as they are, and there are some, are primarily funded by the Met and or the Mayor. These few Black organisations that support the Commissioner are primarily private companies or 'charities' that are not democratically accountable to the broader community, have no mass base support beyond their immediate funding influence and are content to provide political fig leaf cover for the right funding price for a violent, racist and misogynist police service in denial. 

Black public attitude surveys consistently demonstrate that few in any of London's Black communities support the positions of these groups that systemic racism isn't the problem and we can work with the Met regardless of the Commissioner's position in refusing to acknowledge institutional racism.  

As London approaches significant political milestones, including the Mayoral and General elections, the urgency to address systemic police racism intensifies. The MPS's weaponisation of the misconduct system against Black officers, alongside the denial of institutional racism by MPS Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, underscores a significant barrier to progress. The APA, in collaboration with national Black organizations, including the NBPA, demands immediate action against this backdrop of failed policies and empty assurances.

National Black Police Association's Stand

The National Black Police Association's call for a boycott of police recruitment in response to attempts to undermine and replace the NBPA highlights the crisis of confidence within the force. Andy George, President of the NBPA, expresses a lack of faith in the MPS's leadership to enact necessary reforms, recommending a halt on BAME recruitment until significant changes are made. This extraordinary step underscores the severity of the situation, demanding rigorous accountability and support for those in need.

The APA fully supports the NBPA's demands to end the racially motivated investigation against the Met BPA Chair and calls for genuine, transparent reform within the MPS. As we navigate critical election milestones, our collective effort to demand a policing system that is fair, just, and accountable to all Londoners has never been more urgent.

Stuart Lawrence's Reflections

Adding to the chorus for change, Stuart Lawrence, brother of Stephen Lawrence, voices concern over the Metropolitan Police's slow pace of reform. His observations about the London Policing Board becoming a space for mere affirmation rather than meaningful oversight reflect a broader disillusionment with the Met's response to calls for change. Lawrence's call for a policing service that truly serves Londoners underscores the pressing need for transformation within the Met.

The need for a drastic overhaul of the complaints process cannot be overstated. We need a system that is transparent, just, and reflective of the community's values—one that holds individuals accountable for their actions without exception. The current state of affairs, where race complaints against the Met have little to no chance of success, is untenable.

As the Chair of the APA, I am calling for immediate and meaningful reform. This includes establishing an independent body to oversee complaints against the police and ensuring that every allegation is investigated thoroughly and impartially. We must also increase transparency around the disciplinary process, allowing the public insight into how decisions are made and ensuring that justice is done and seen to be done.

The figures before us are a wake-up call. They demand action, not just words. It's time for the Metropolitan Police Service to transform from an institution where complaints go to die into one where justice is actively and fairly pursued. Anything less continues the legacy of systemic discrimination and institutional racism—a legacy we cannot afford to carry into the future.

Our fight against this deep-seated injustice continues, fuelled by the undeniable evidence of a system that fails to protect and serve all members of our community equally. The time for change is now.

Mayoral Elections. 

London's next mayor has a mission impossible on their hands, and it's all about cleaning up our city's policing mess. With the Baroness Casey Review laying it all out in black and white, confirming the Met's deep-seated issues with racism, misogyny, and homophobia, the question every Londoner needs to ask the mayoral hopefuls is loud and clear:

"Do you acknowledge the systemic racism within the Met, as exposed by the Baroness Casey Review? And if Sir Mark Rowley continues to deny this undeniable truth, are you prepared to demand his resignation?"

The stakes couldn't be higher, and with the mayoral elections around the corner, we need leaders bold enough to face the facts and act. It's not just about admitting is a problem but about taking decisive action to fix it.

So, to every candidate out there: Will you be the mayor London needs to finally turn the tide on police racism, or will it be more of the same? Londoners deserve to know."