London Mayor criticised for endorsing racist stop-and-search

A sitting member of the London Assembly – an elected body considered the ‘eyes and ears of Londoners‘ – delivered a blistering critique of London mayor Sadiq Khan. They have described him as “part of the problem” when it comes to racialised stop-and-search powers. Notably, these powers overwhelmingly target black Londonders.

“Vital policing tool,” Khan claims

New research from the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and King’s College London shows black people are up to 48 times more likely to be stopped and searched in London’s richest areas. The study — based on 150,000 Metropolitan Police interactions — purports to be the largest-analysis of stop-and-search practices.

Khan has in fact rubber-stamped these very practices. In addition, Green Party councillor, Zoë Garbett, has spoken out against these double standards from the London mayor:

The Mayor has called stop and search a ‘vital policing tool’ despite its disproportionate targeting of Black Londoners, which makes him part of the problem by assuming that stop and search is an inevitable aspect of policing.

What we need to see is the Mayor ending the routine use of Section 60 powers, decriminalising cannabis to stop low-level drug searches that drive racial disparities and providing transparency around the use of live facial recognition.

Excusing white people

The MOPAC found strong evidence of racialised policing. They found that police officers had used “vague” grounds to justify stopping black Londoners, compared to the reasons given for white Londoners.

Black people were stopped for things like clothing or simply going about their business in high-crime areas. In contrast, white people were more likely to be stopped for stealing or admitting possession of drugs.

The report advised that improving the criteria for when people should (or should not) be stopped and searched would reduce racial disproportionality by 11 to 19 percent.

Commenting on this the greens councillor, Garbett said:

Report after report has confirmed what many Black Londoners have known for decades: stop and search is an inherently racist and discriminatory policing power.

This latest research simply adds to the growing body of evidence showing the staggering scale of disproportionate policing in London, spanning a wide range of tools and tactics.

For example, research I disclosed revealed that over half of live facial recognition deployments were in areas with higher-than-average Black populations, including Thornton Heath, Croydon (40%), Northumberland Park, Haringey (36%), and Deptford High Street, Lewisham (34%).

We also know that Black Londoners are 5.1 times more likely to be stopped and searched for drug offences than white people highlighting how cannabis criminalisation is inherently discriminatory by design.

Punitive policing

King’s College researchers also found that Black Londoners are subjected to a troubling 4,300 extra stops by police each year – almost one every two hours. These statistics are difficult to square against Khan’s sheepish support for punitive policing practices.

Across 24 London wards (districts) with higher racial disproportionality, Black people could be up to 48 times more likely to be stopped and searched than White people.

These problem areas include Ealing, Hillingdon, and Hackney, where Garbett serves as a councillor for the Dalston ward.

She spoke about the human impact of these discriminatory practices, sanctioned by the mayor.

Constituents and community groups I’ve spoken to describe stop and search as an invasive and degrading tactic and they say it causes real and long-lasting harm that undermines trust and confidence in the police.

What we need is for the Met to genuinely listen to communities and take on board their input and act on it rather than pushing back or assuming they know better.

This is not the first time the Met Police have been called racist, with the studies and receipts backing up these claims. Despite Khan’s praise of London as a diverse “place for everyone,” he remains impotent in face of the Met police’s systemic and institutional racism.

Featured image via Unsplash/Ethan Wilkinson