PRESS RELEASE : Fresh action announced by Mayor and Met Commissioner to tackle disproportionality and improve community confidence in policing [December 2022]

• Mayor and Met unveil bold new action to improve trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police including development of new partnership panel for Safer Schools officers and commitment to publish innovative Body Worn Video analysis in 2023
• Continued investment from City Hall and the Met’s continued focus on increasing the number of Black police officers has helped the Met workforce to become more diverse than it has ever been – with challenging targets set by Mayor to increase the diversity of officers at every rank
• Mayor and Met Commissioner determined to work with communities to build on achievements of Action Plan to ensure all Londoners have trust in the use of police powers

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today unveiled bold new action to improve trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police and to address community concerns about the disproportionality in the use of certain police powers affecting Black Londoners.

Black Londoners are more than three times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than white Londoners,¹ and the Mayor is clear that there is still a lot more work to be done to ensure all communities in London have trust in the use of police powers as the Met goes about the vital work of tackling crime.

That’s why Sadiq and the Commissioner have today announced that:

• A new partnership panel will be developed with communities, headteachers, teaching leads, youth justice services, MOPAC and the Met to oversee and inform the work of Safer Schools officers – to address community concerns that some young Black Londoners are being overpoliced.
• Body Worn Video research conducted jointly with the Met will be published to help improve the police’s understanding of the points of escalation and de-escalation in stop and search interactions to reduce its disproportionate impact on Black Londoners.
• New data from Black communities will be collected by Black Thrive and PSi on the lived experiences and interaction Black Londoners have with police officers will be used to improve existing local community oversight of policing in the capital
• Continued support from the Mayor and ongoing focus from the Met’s recruitment and outreach work will accelerate the transformation of the Met’s workforce so that it becomes more representative of the city it serves with increased diversity of officers at every rank.

These new steps, which will be delivered by the Met and City Hall, follow a series of scandals which have shaken public confidence in the police – from the pictures taken by serving officers of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman in Wembley to the hate-filled Whatsapp chat groups exposed by Operation Hotton and the strip search of Child Q.

A clear opportunity for positive change has started with appointment of a reforming Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who has vowed to raise standards in the police, rebuild trust with those whom the Met have let down and increase the confidence of all Londoners in the service.

The Mayor’s Action Plan was created in 2020 in consultation with more than 400 individuals and groups that either work with or within Black communities. It has focused on increasing transparency in police actions, transforming the Met to better reflect the city it serves and strengthening community involvement in reviewing the disproportionate use of police powers and complaints. Acting on the concerns raised by Londoners, the Mayor’s Action Plan has worked in partnership with the Met to:

• Introduce stricter oversight of the use of stop and search in London – through the London Disproportionality Board and the Met’s creation of 12 Public Encounter Panels (PEPs), restoration of Community Monitoring Groups’ access to BWV footage to enhance their oversight of stops. The Met has specifically sought to recruit Public Encounter Panel membership with high representation from minority ethnic communities and young people.
• Complete a review of the use of handcuffs by officers before arrest – with a new policy on handcuffing developed and implemented by the Met. This has led to a 20 per cent drop in the use of handcuffs in non-arrest scenarios – like stop and search.²
• Carry out a pilot to identify any disproportionality relating to the ethnicity of drivers stopped by the police, which has led to changes being adopted nationally.³
• Roll out new community involvement in the training received by new police recruits at several points but specifically around stop and search. This also includes a familiarisation in boroughs where recruits have the opportunity to meet local community members.
• Set up an External Reference Group to help ensure that the voices of London’s communities are at the heart of the Mayor’s and Commissioner’s Action Plan work and they are directly involved in the oversight of the work to improve transparency, trust and confidence in the Met.⁴
• Invest £900,000 from City Hall on outreach recruitment events across London to increase the number of Black recruits and help increase the diversity of officers at every rank. This and the continued focus of the Met in its recruitment approach  has led to the Met becoming more diverse than it has ever been – with challenging targets set – and the Met workforce now has more women police officers than at any other time in London’s history.⁵
• Produce a quarterly race equality report of the Met’s use of its powers – this includes publishing a breakdown of the Met’s use of tasers, stop and search, strip-searching and use of force in general.
• A significant amount of work has been undertaken to better understand the needs and experience of Black women who have been victims of violence. This includes roundtable discussions with organisations supporting Black women and workshops on how best to support Black victims of violence against women and girls. The findings of which informed the development of the Mayor’s refreshed VAWG strategy.
• Improve transparency through the publication of data on police custody and the use of more thorough and intimate searches. A series of policy changes regarding strip searches of children are also being implemented by the Met as a matter of urgency and the recommendations from a London Policing Ethics Panel report on the conduct of searches that expose intimate parts has also been accepted by the Met.
• Remove more than 1,000 young Black Londoners – with little or no evidence of a link to criminal gangs – from the Met’s Gangs Violence Matrix. And worked with community groups to overhaul its use by police to ensure the Matrix database is now more effective and more evidence-based than ever before.

This is in addition to the Met also delivering a range of refreshed learning and training that gives officers more understanding of public perspectives, ranging from how interactions can be de-escalated and regular community input through recruit training on various issues including experiences of stop and search, with a new cultural awareness portal to support officers and a Learning and Development Community Reference Group set up to ensure that we design by default community perspectives into training.

To ensure there is no room for racists in the Met, the Commissioner has set out clear expectation on standards and launched the new Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command and the Metropolitan Police Service Anti-Corruption and Abuse Hotline, run by Crimestoppers, to identify those whose behaviours have no place in the Met. 

Building on these achievements, both the Mayor and Commissioner believe more can and must be done to increase confidence and trust in the police for all Londoners – particularly Black Londoners – as part of their joint effort to build a safer and fairer city for everyone.

The Mayor, Sir Mark Rowley and Deputy Mayor of Policing and Crime Sophie Linden will today meet with community representatives at City Hall as part the ongoing community-led approach to tackling disproportionately in policing in the capital.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “It’s simply not right that Black Londoners have less trust and confidence in our police service and it’s something the new Met Commissioner and I are determined to improve together.

“My Action Plan is already working to improve trust and confidence in the Met and to address community concerns about the disproportionality in the use of certain police powers affecting Black Londoners.

But we need to do more and that starts with listening to and acting on the concerns and experiences of Black Londoners. That’s why today with the Commissioner I’ve announced a raft of new actions based on those concerns that cover everything from police tactics and recruitment to community oversight and engagement so we can build a better, safer and fairer London for everyone.”

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said: “I have been candid in saying that I know the Met has let people down – especially Black Londoners. Baroness Casey’s interim report demonstrated that there is evidence of systemic bias in the Met. It is appalling that prejudices such as racism have impacted the public during police interactions. I am uncompromising in my determination to root out those that corrupt our integrity.

“Policing depends on public trust and this applies most of all to police and Black communities. Tragically, not only do these communities have some of the lowest levels of trust in the police but they also suffer some of the highest levels of crime – especially the twelve times’ disproportionality of the murder of young black men we were discussing with the GLA last week. We will only succeed with trust and joint action between police and black communities.

“This makes it all the more important for the Met to continue to keep driving changes to increase the trust and confidence Black Londoners have in their police service. We have made many improvements such to how we use our powers, how we recruit and train and how we are more open, transparent and accountable to Black Londoners. This has been as a result of our own determination to improve; the feedback of communities; and the challenge, scrutiny and investment from the Mayor including through the Action Plan.

“Under my leadership, I am determined to root out those who corrupt our integrity and rebuild community confidence in policing once more so we can work with Black communities to reduce the disproportionate crime they experience.”

Dr Jacqui Dyer, Director of Black Thrive Global (Chair of Black Thrive Lambeth), said: “Consultations with Black Londoners about local community oversight of the police show that these structures need to be changed urgently. This can only be done together with MOPAC, the MPS and Black communities so that local oversight responds to the Black experience of policing, can make it better and prioritises building trust.”

Headteacher and community leader Paul Mundy-Castle, chair of the Action Plan External Reference Group said: “As a Londoner, I am honoured to chair the external reference group and thank the mayor and the deputy mayor for the opportunity to support their oversight of the Met. I want to encourage all Londoners to have a voice and to challenge inequalities.

“Sadly, I have always had a negative view of the police stemming from my own teenage experiences and interactions. But I feel that if we truly want change and a police force that represents us then we have to become part of the solution. I want to use this position to ensure all Londoners better understand that there is accountability and that the ERG will ask the uncomfortable questions if it leads to better policing for all.’