A former Labour Cabinet Minister has called for “systematic change” in the police force, accusing the Met of “racial profiling.”
Dawn Butler was stopped by the police on Sunday while driving through Hackney.
The MP said on the BBC that institutional racism was “not about saying every single police officer is racist”.
“If you see black people in a car and you automatically assume that they are criminals, there is a problem there,” she stated.
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“That’s why you have to address the system that is currently biased against black people.”
She also said that: “It’s about time we changed the system so it works for everyone and it’s effective.”
The Hackney Police said in a statement[1]: “Prior to stopping the vehicle, an officer incorrectly entered the registration into a police computer which identified the car as registered to an address in Yorkshire.
“Upon stopping the vehicle and speaking with the driver, it quickly became apparent that the registration had been entered incorrectly and was registered to the driver in London.
“Once the mistake was realised the officer sought to explain this to the occupants; they were then able to continue on their way.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson responded to the reports of the search, saying: “The police have made a statement saying that they made a mistake.
“They have spoken to the occupants of the car but it’s obviously very, very important that the Met continue to do everything that they can – as indeed they do – to show that they are serving every part of our country, every part of our community, with fairness and equality.”
Susan Hall, Conservative leader on the London Assembly, has called for the release of the police body camera footage, saying: “If Dawn Butler wants to play politics with police officers doing their job, Londoners should have all the facts.”
[1] http://news.met.police.uk/news/statement-re-vehicle-stop-in-hackney-408320
