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Britain’s only black police chief warned that a George Floyd-style murder could occur here, with police embroiled in a racial justice crisis they weren’t addressing.
Michael Fuller told The Guardian that stopping and searching left blacks feeling “humiliated,” “alienated,” and that their human rights and dignity were not being respected.
Fuller was the Chief of Police for the Kent force after serving in the Metropolitan Police fighting gang and gun violence in London.
He said that it was possible to reduce crime without widespread use of arrest and search, and that the crisis was not inevitable. He added that building better trust with communities was shown to lead to better intelligence on serious offenders.
Fuller has a background in the police and criminal justice system. After serving as Kent’s Chief of Police from 2004 to 2010, he was a Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, and is also a qualified lawyer.
He said that both British and American black communities were enduring bad police experiences and rejected the assumption that it was better in Britain: “In both societies there is racial injustice and social injustice in the way that black communities are treated in both countries. . The problems are the same. “
He went on to point to the review of the criminal justice system by Labor MP David Lammy, which was commissioned by then-Prime Minister Theresa May.
The study found a disproportionate number of black people in the criminal justice system, and black people experienced disproportionately higher arrests and searches, incarceration rates and victimization by criminals. Other official reports on deaths in custody also showed worse outcomes for people from ethnic minorities, which for Fuller showed “evidence of systemic racism.”
When asked about UK policing compared to America, he said: “We have our problems here, mistakes have been made and we have had our tragedies.” When asked if an atrocity like the Floyd murder could happen in the UK, he admitted: “It could happen here. We have had similarly dire incidents. “
Floyd, 46, died after being arrested by police outside a store in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Footage from the May 25 arrest showed a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd’s neck while pinned to the ground.
When asked for an example, he said that, if proven, claims about officers taking selfies at a crime scene in a London park where two black sisters were lying dead would be “equally horrific.” The allegations, first revealed by The Guardian, are currently the subject of a criminal investigation.
The long-standing flash point between police and ethnic minority communities is arrest and search, and black people are nine times more likely to be detained than white people, and most are innocent.
Commenting on the issue, Fuller said: “The evidence does not support that it is effective in controlling or reducing crime. I support stopping the search, but it must be of the right people and it must be intelligence-based rather than indiscriminate. “
“The evidence shows that 80% of the people detained are innocent, which suggests that it is not being used efficiently or effectively. These people can feel uncomfortable, alienated and humiliated. “
He added: “There is a perception within black communities that the police are profiling and attacking the entire community. That perception is there and it is very strong and that is something that the police must deal with ”.
Police leadership must do more, said the former chief of police, with a worrying gap growing between law enforcement and young black British people: “Young black people do not feel that the police respect their human rights and dignity and that they are deserving of protection under the law.
“It is the default use of handcuffs when detaining people, which never happened when it was PC, and the perception of profiles. All the evidence points to a crisis of confidence in the police by the black community.
“By increasing trust in the police, particularly among the black community, you are more likely to ensure cooperation and, as a result, reduce crime and provide better service for all.”
Fuller’s comments are a challenge to the service he loves. In recent interviews with the Guardian’s former Met Assistant Commissioner Patricia Gallan, the highest-ranking ethnic minority woman in policing, has also raised significant concerns about the police’s past and current track record on race.
Fuller said the stop of a car in which athlete Bianca Williams, her partner and their baby was riding was concerning: “I think from the short video the officers look quite threatening. The officer held an asp [metal police baton] in a very threatening way, it would be quite scary for anyone.
“I thought some of the officers had overreacted. If it had been a car full of bullies you could understand, but it was a couple with a baby, it really didn’t add up. That raises a lot of questions. The question arises as to why they were treated so aggressively. “
He added: “People are not being treated with due courtesy and respect.”
He insisted that the racial crisis can be reversed and that young black people do not want the police not to fund, but they want protection against crime and gangs: “People want to have a say about how they are controlled, they want the police to be effective and legitimate, and have more of them. The situation can be changed. “
Having more ethnic minority officers in the ranks was vitally important, he added. “Young people want a service that looks like themselves and with which they can identify.”
He was hopeful that the plan to increase the number of police officers by 20,000 in three years will increase the number of ethnic minority officers and mean that more officers are available to provide community policing.
Ian Hopkins, a police chief who leads the Council of National Police Chiefs on Diversity, said that it was working with police leaders who signed up to an action plan: “We are all committed to addressing the evils of racism, prejudice and discrimination wherever they are found in surveillance.
“Everyone in the police knows how important it is that communities can relate to us and feel represented by us. It is important that we better understand people’s lived experiences and focus on all aspects of diversity across the organization if we are to truly reflect the communities we serve. “
