Met Police refers itself to police watchdog over racial profiling
The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the police watchdog after a stop and search involving black British athlete Bianca Williams.
The Team GB sprinter claimed officers racially profiled her and her partner Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese 400m runner, were stopped in Maida Vale over the weekend.
Williams accused the Met of racially profiling her partner for driving a black Mercedes, after footage of the stop and search was shared widely on social media. The sprinter said she was “hurt and scared” by the incident.
“They see a black male driving a nice car, an all-black car, and they assume that he was involved in some sort of gang, drug, violence problem,” she added.
A Met statement released this evening confirmed the police force had voluntarily referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
It said: “We have now recorded this incident as a public complaint. The decision to refer to the IOPC has been taken due to the complaint being recorded and the significant public interest in this matter and we welcome independent scrutiny of the facts.”
“Two reviews of the circumstances by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards have not identified misconduct for any officer involved,” the force added.
It marks a sharp U-turn for the force, after a Met Police spokesperson yesterday said no further action would be taken over the incident.
The Met yesterday argued that officers were patrolling the area in Maida Vale in which Williams and her partner stopped because of an increase in youth violence.
Speaking in the Commons’ Human Rights Committee yesterday, Baroness Lawrence said it was “ludicrous” that black people were deemed suspicious when they drove expensive cars.
“Stop and search will continue to be an element young people go through on a day-to-day basis,” said the campaigner, whose murdered son was failed by an “institutionally racist” Met Police.
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