Police officers dismissed for stop and search misconduct
We look at an incident of stop and search misconduct which has resulted in two Metropolitan police officers being dismissed.
Two Metropolitan Police officers have faced gross misconduct proceedings and have been dismissed from the force regarding the stop and search of Bianca Williams and Ricardo Dos Santos in July 2020. In a circulated video, officers can be seen to approach the couple’s vehicle and apprehend them whilst their baby remained in the vehicle. They were stopped on the suspicion of being in possession of drugs and weapons and two of the five officers involved stated they could smell cannabis. No illegal items were found and the couple were permitted to continue their journey.
The couple felt that they were racially profiled during this stop and search and filed a complaint to the Police Watchdog. This resulted in the gross misconduct panel hearing where it was found the two officers had lied about being able to smell cannabis which breached professional standards in relation to honesty and integrity. The panel concluded that any smell of cannabis was likely to have emanated from another location as the officers had not made attempts to verify the smell.
Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Police was found to be institutionally racist following Baroness Louise Casey’s report. The report produced a number of concerning statistics in relation to the disproportionate use of powers against black individuals. Data shows that in every year since 2016, black individuals aged between 11-61 have been at least three and a half times more likely to be stop and searched by the Metropolitan Police. Between 2020-2022, Metropolitan Police data showed that black individuals, aged 11-61, in London were over three times more likely to be placed in handcuffs that white individuals. They were also found to be over four times more likely to have a baton used against them, and almost four times more likely to have a taser used on them.
The report also explored black individuals’ views on how people of colour in London are treated by the Metropolitan Police. Only 36% of black London residents have confidence in the Metropolitan Police’s ability to treat all people fairly and equally. Furthermore, only 30% of all of London’s residents think that the Metropolitan Police treat black individuals fairly and only 14% of black London residents think that the force treat black people fairly.
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