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. 

Commissioner Dick hides the truth from Channel 4 News on black public confidence in the Met

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, speaking to Channel 4 News is less than truthful on London's Black public confidence figures. 

So during this interview, the Met Commissioner Dick said, ’I don’t accept that confidence is at an all-time low, I think that’s a ludicrous thing to say,  just five months ago a survey showed that our black Londoners had, had more confidence in the job of the local police than white Londoners.“ at 8.00 -8.13  

That's true. but what she didn't say is that according to the latest figures from the London Mayors Office,  

"...those from a Black or Mixed ethnic background are less likely to be satisfied compared with the MPS result (-5 pp. both groups). The gap for the Mixed group emerged in Q2 19-20 and has remained stable since. 

However, the gap for Black residents has newly emerged this quarter, following a gradual widening over FY 19-20. Residents from a Mixed ethnic background see large gaps across 5 of the 7 core questions – most notably for ‘fair treatment and ‘listen to concerns’ (both -15 pp). 

Looking over time, gaps have widened over the last two years. This increasing inequality has been driven by widening gaps for ‘listen to concerns’ (+9 pp. from Q1 18-19 to Q4 19-20), ‘fair treatment’ (+8 pp.) and ‘good job local’ (+5 pp.).

Residents from a Black background continue to show a large negative gap for ‘fair treatment’ (- 12 pp.), although inequalities have tended to narrow slightly over the last two years." (A Better Police Service For London: MOPAC Surveys Q4 19-20 Results)

So confidence, as defined by 5 of the 7 core questions for the mixed-race category, has in fact widened for Black and Mixed race-ethnic groups in London. She simply manipulating the figures to suit her own ideological agenda. My statement as a former Policing Director for London, that Black public confidence is at an all-time low is certainly not ' ludicrous' its an undeniable, indisputable fact. That she continually seeks to deny this, is why both she and the Met are no longer trusted by Londons Black communities. 

In addition in the year 2018/19 the following was recorded;

Further, in this year  2019/20 Black people's confidence fell again, here are the figures from the Mayor's office showing a huge drop in levels of black and mixed-raced public confidence in the Metropolitan police service. I say these are historic and unprecedented lows and therefore accuse the Commissioner of deliberately and knowingly misleading the public.;

https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/mayors-office-policing-and-crime-mopac/data-and-statistics/public-voice-dashboard

So while she may hold the view that the Metropolitan police service is no longer institutionally racist institution, that flies in the face of the majority view of black London communities, who have consistently expressed lower levels of public confidence in the ability of the Met to treat them fairly. That the Commissioner refuses to accept or engage with this strongly held community perception, that is informed by hard facts and data, means in essence that she lacks the necessary insight and understanding to police a multicultural city like London. In short, she lacks the cultural competence to do the job, and as a result, we are seeing black public confidence in London's Police sink to unprecedented new lows. 

Britain’s Rodney King Moment. The Romford Police Assault

Thursday 23rd January 2020 saw the magistrate's trial and ultimate acquittal of Metropolitan Police Officer, Detective Constable Kevin Rowley on the charge assault and battery of a young black boy. 

You may remember this officer seen on a video that went viral, where the officer is seen using his baton to repeatedly strike a terrified young 17-year-old black boy outside a parade of shops on Heath Park Road, Romford on April 22nd of last year.

The case was heard at Hendon Magistrates Court, a court that is miles away from inner London. I've seen this type of court scheduling before and its usually politically motivated. It's the common practice of moving controversial trials of police officers that take place in inner London, as far away from where the original incident took place, or in where that not possible in the tiniest inaccessible court venues. 

On this occasion, the trial was held, in what is a notoriously difficult part of London to get to for 10 am on a Thursday morning. 

I suspect, though I cannot prove, that the decision to have the trial in an area of the capital with virtually no African Caribbean communities, was based on finding a court that would be difficult to get to, and would prevent any protests outside the court itself, no doubt justified, on this occasion by concerns for 'the officers safety' 

Hendon Magistrates Court No 2 is a tiny court with a public gallery that seats around 20 people.  Two-thirds of the public gallery was packed with press and police officers

Last year London's black communities and many more besides, were left angry and traumatised by the shocking video showing a young black boy, pleading with DC Rowley to stop assaulting him.  Many Police officers have told me that they believe the violence used was both disproportionate and unnecessary.  I agree with that analysis.

The first thing to say about this prosecution is that for a police officer to face charges of battery and assault, on a black person, is an extraordinarily rare event. 

In over 40 years in challenging police abuses, this is the first such case I've come across.  So it was with some degree of relief and hopeful anticipation that the family of the young boy concerned, and I attended this trail.  

There's was the hope that maybe, this trial would hold the police to proper account particularly where the Met themselves admit to using disproportionate force when arresting black males. London's black communities believe they are being racially targeted for drug searches and are subjected to unnecessary violence on arrest, and all this against a backdrop where Black communities public confidence in the Met police is at an all-time low. 

So it was with some little hope that the family and myself sat in this far-flung tightly packed, little court.

However, once the prosecution began it was clear to me this wasn't going to be our day.  

As the trial unfolded I concluded that bizarrely, the witnesses for the prosecution appeared to me, to be witnesses for the defence.

I have purposely not written this sequentially, as in the order of evidence as it was given on the day. Instead, I have written this as a reflective piece pointing out some of the salient points that struck me as a former Policing Director of London and an ardent campaigner for justice.  

That will no doubt lead some to conclude that I'm presenting the evidence to suit my own perspective and people are entitled to that view. Nevertheless, I contend that many in the black community and those prepared to take a critical lens to this case will share my analysis. 

My motivation for doing so is to simply present a community perspective informed by decades of institutional police racism and the deeply embedded lack of trust that now exists between the London black community and the police. 

Let us start with DC Rowley's evidence to the court. He told the court that his attention was drawn to two black boys walking across a zebra crossing. 

He said: 'Initially we saw them as they crossed the zebra and the cars paused. One of them had a wad of cash notes in his hands raised to the sky. It looked a bit out of place." 

Black boys on zebra crossing looked out of place? 

Here I'm guessing that what he really meant is that these two black boys, looked out of place in the predominantly white area of Romford. 

He mentions that the cars paused, well yes, they were crossing the road, what’s the significance of that comment, and what did he expect the cars to do? 

He goes on to say one of the boys had a wad of cash in his hand, in fact, they didn't, the eldest boy was holding a single £20 note, pocket money of two brothers who lived locally, and coincidently the only black family in this area. These boys were simply on the way to the shops to change the £20 so they could split the cash between them. 

The officer went on to say, 'They looked like they had no purpose there. They walked into a fish and chip shop for five seconds, and walked back out again.'

Firstly, what leads him to conclude, they had no purpose there? Why? Are black boys not supposed to be in Romford? 

The boys were local and were simply popping into local shops asking if they could change a £20 note to split their pocket money. 

He goes on to say, 'Most people keep money in their wallet or their bag. I said to the other police officer, keep an eye out on those boys. I thought they looked a bit weird.'  

Had they been walking with a large amount of cash in their hand, then that may give rise to some suspicion, but these boys had a single £20 note and kids don't usually have a wallet and young men don't usually carry money in bags. When arrested the young man did not have a wad of cash, as described by Rowley, he had precisely £20. The prosecution decided not to pursue that point. 

As to the reason why they were stopped, well this comes straight out the police playbook and the most singularly cited reason offered by Met officers for stop and searches; 'I asked them what they had been up to and I was hit with a strong smell of cannabis.'

We've all known plenty of black non-smokers subjected to stop and search who have similarly been wrongly accused by police officers of smelling of cannabis. 

In the minds of London's black communities, we consider this as a joke. It always amazes me that while white people report higher drug use, according to the British Crime Survey. much more than black communities, they are not subjected to the same level of racially targeted police stops and searches. 

The officer goes on; 'It was coming from them. I told them they were going to be detained as part of a drug search. [The youth] said, 'you're not searching me, I know my rights.' 

The officer then reports that at this moment the second boy had runoff. Yes he did, he ran to his nearby home to alert his mother and followed in hot pursuit by another officer. 

Rowley’s statement here strikes me as being almost scripted in an effort to begin to frame the boy into the widely held violent black youth stereotype. It’s the trigger words used as a nod and a wink to the magistrate, igniting shared white stereotypes and fears. 

The problem was that this evidence was contradicted by a witness who had previously given evidence in which she says she saw the events from an adjacent window overlooking the scene and described the initial encounter as 'quite calm'.  

Teri Vigers told the court,

'He was a little bit hesitant, he obviously didn't really want to be there, he was a bit edgy but did allow the police officer to put him in handcuffs without any problem.’ 

Well yes, being a young kid and being subjected to a stop and search, given the awful reputation of the Met would make most people ‘a little bit hesitant'

Her description of the encounter is at odds with Rowley’s who said the boy was extremely agitated. 

Vigers goes on to say, 

'He asked the young boy to sit down on the floor, it looked like he was trying to call for backup or speak to someone on the radio.' 

'The young boy was asking about his brother, I think he was trying to find out about his brother.' 

Ms Vigers told the court she had given her witness statement to  
the police the day after the event. 

This was a surprise as the family had not at that stage, submitted any formal complaint, so why and for what reason was a statement taken by the police? It could be inferred that the police coached her to provide a helpful statement, as they knew instantly that what Rowley did was wrong. 

Personally, I was disinclined to disbelieve her evidence from this point on. 

Back to Rowley, he stated in court that once the second boy ran off: 

‘I'm now alone with an agitated and aggressive male who is not complying. He's made it clear that I'm not searching for him. It's a concern for me as I'm alone with this male.' 

The officer told the court that the boy said he wanted to see his brother and that he tried to reassure him.'

So the older boy was concerned for the safety of his little brother. Given the acute lack of trust in the police, it's perfectly reasonable that he should be concerned. 

Witness Terri Vigers also went on to say, after Rowley had placed the boy in cuffs that the boy had sat down, stood up, then sat down, then stood up again, and was the edging away from the officer while DC Rowley goes onto say that boy was struggling like a man possessed.  

'First of all, we could smell cannabis. But this behaviour was not possession of cannabis. I've had experience of catching people with knives, drugs, guns.

'He was putting up such a fight I didn't know what he had on him. He hadn't been searched at this point.

'He was aggressive, desperate to get away, pulling me, dragging me, pushing me. It was not the behaviour of someone who has a single count of possession on him.’

'He might be 17, but he's my height and build, and he was very strong. Because he was so aggressive, he had a lot of adrenaline.'

So the boy complied with arrest and allowed himself to be cuffed without and resistance. As for the officer's description, this is a regularly used trope used by police officers, in controversial arrests where they routinely describe black people as possessing superhuman strength, being violently aggressive. A set policing script that has been used regularly for the last 40 years. 

Rowley goes onto to state; 

'I wasn't trying to hurt him. All I was trying to do was detain him. Because he was in such a rage he was not listening to anything I was trying to do.'

Another witness who lives locally a Mr Anthony Bailey gave his evidence. Mr Bailey said:

'As part of my job I use restraint. He was struggling to restrain the youth. 

He went onto say, 

'He was struggling to keep him there from what I have experienced in safeguarding.

Really? What job is that then? He wasn't asked. The terms restraint and safeguarding are terms usually used by people with either professional policing or security experience or both. The prosecution didn’t ask him. 

His evidence was that the young man whilst cuffed was violently swinging the officer around from side to side. 

This, of course, is in direct contradiction to Ms Vigers testimony that described the boy as doing nothing more than 'edging away'

Bailey then says, ‘The officer struck him as the teenager did not respond to his command to get down.' I find the word 'command' interesting. 

Returning to witness Teri Vigers she went on to state, 

‘The police officer said he would have to use force if he didn't listen. He removed his stick and repeated quite a lot of time he didn't want to use it.’

'The police officer stated he didn't want to use force and then struck him on the legs.'

She said the boy was 'trying to irritate the police officer' by screaming, in order to draw a crowd, well yes being beaten will lead you to scream. And let's be real, this isn't Brixton that crowd was white, and even they were angry at what they saw as evidenced by the commentary on the video.

She goes on to say, that Rowley had been ‘reasonably calm until he used the baton.’

'I think I recall him saying he didn't want to use force that was after they moved across to the shop.’

'He's obviously got to the point where he was being really nice and really calm and raised his voice and withdraws the baton.’

She makes the whole incident sound like an exercise in textbook community policing. 

Yet none of the video audio captured any of this, and yet Vigers, Bailey and the Rowley all claim these words were spoken throughout the later part of the encounter i.e. outside of the parade of shops. All were very clear on this particular point.  

The audio from the video is clear and there are no instructions heard from the officer to the boy to sit down, nor is there any warning offered to the boy. Yet everything else is captured, comments by the crowd, traffic noise and the boy himself. Was the officer whispering? 

Vigers, Bailey all say that they heard the officers comments in their homes and yet we can hear nothing on the audio. Vigers says she heard the boy expressing concern for his brother from inside her home. Yet throughout the video, the officer shouts get down once.  

Another witness, an elderly white gentleman whose name I did not catch stated he knew the officer personally and was concerned and had wanted to help him.  How did he know the officer, Rowley was in plain clothes that day so what was their relationship? The prosecution simply ignored the response.

Hard of hearing, the man was shown a video of the incident and asked if he recognised a man standing near the incident, in a red t-shirt hands on his hips. After scrutinising the video, the man answered he did not recognise the man. 

That was strange because the man he was asked if he recognised, was the actual witness himself, which he later conceded to. His evidence clearly couldn't be relied upon. 

The prosecution went on, in my view to demonstrate inconsistencies in DC Rowley's initial description of events and the evidence he gave in court however despite this, and the contradictions I've highlighted, the magistrate acquitted the officer. 

Of course, the family are deeply disappointed and will be considering the verdict and what options are available to them. There is still the option that the officer though found not guilty of assault could be disciplined by the Metropolitan Police service. 

Let us hope, for the sake of police, community relations that this option is exercised. 

Am I surprised? Not really, I've seen such travesty's of justice before and will no doubt see them again. This case will, however, reinforce the black community strongly held belief that when it comes to the police, disproportionate violence and black people there is little if any justice to be had.     

Speaking to the family they’ve had enough and lost all confidence in British justice, policing and criminal justice. They told me their packing up and leaving the country, which they said had become a hostile environment for young black people. 

They didn’t want their sons to suffer the indignity of false accusation, baseless suspicion and violent arrest. They felt betrayed by British institutions. They spoke of the weight of racism being too heavy a burden to carry for their sons.  They want them to prosper in a country where talent, not colour is the defining characteristic of young black people.

Angry, depressed and determined, they are heading home to Africa, Ghana to be precise where their sons can be free of the racism so brutally inflicted on them in the UK.  

The boys mother spoke to me and said, ‘As black people we’ve spent decades, pleading, begging, cajoling and appealing to the angels of their better natures only to be kicked in the teeth, targeted, excluded and arrested. There comes a time when enough is enough and our duty as parents is to safeguard our children from this toxic racism takes priority.’  

I for one couldn’t fault her logic. From the criminalisation of our communities to exclusions from school, the Windrush scandal Britain, raging unemployment and poverty Britain has become hostile and unapologetic for its growing culture of unabashed, unashamed racism and many like this family, are saying maybe its time to leave. Those of us who remain must fight on. 

How The Metropolitan Police Force Undermines The Black Communities Fight Against Violence Part 3  Watch this Exclusive Interview with @StaffordScott Speaking Out On #PoliceRacism.#Matrix

UK Black Communities Undermined In Fight Against Violence PT2

Three prominent British black men, working with the Metropolitan Police Service  to better relations and reduce violence, speak of their arrest, all were harassed or arrested by their Police 'colleagues'.

Hear from Dr Mo Hashi, Lambeth,  Ken Hinds, Tottenham and Gwenton Sloley discuss the state of police, black/community relations in London. and how they ended up being harassed by the Met.

The implications for London are devastating.

You will not believe what you will hear on this video an 7 year old boy lost his life as a result of the failure of the authorities to safeguard the family. They pleaded for protection.

The current relations between Met police and community can be described as toxic.

Please share #PoliceVsBlackPeople #PoliceRacism #YouthViolence #MetPolice