Gold medal winning Linford Christie, the most successful British and European sprinter, has accused Met Police officers of racism after a stop and search of two of his athletes he is training in a car.
He called on the Met chief, Cressida Dick, “or anyone else” to justify the officers’ conduct. “Was it the car that was suspicious or the black family in it which led to such a violent confrontation and finally an accusation of the car smelling of weed but refusing to do a roadside drug test?” he wrote.
“This is not the the first time this has happened (second time in two months). And I’m sure it won’t be the last, but this type of abuse of power and institutionalised racism cannot be justified or normalised any longer.”
It is thought the couple involved may proceed with legal action against the Police.
The Met Police have responded with the following statement:
At around 13:25hrs on Saturday, 4 July, officers from the Territorial Support Group were patrolling in the W9 area in response to an increase in violence involving weapons.
Officers witnessed a vehicle with blacked out windows that was driving suspiciously, including driving on the wrong side of the road. They indicated for it to stop but it failed to do so and made off at speed. The officers caught up with the vehicle when it stopped on Lanhill Road. The driver initially refused to get out of the car.
The occupants, a 25-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, were informed that they were being detained for the purposes of a search under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.
Following a search of the vehicle, the man and the woman, nothing was found. No arrests were made and the occupants were allowed on their way.
Police are aware of a video circulating on social media showing part of the stop.
Each stop is dealt with on its own merits at the discretion of the individual officers involved, taking into account various aspects including behaviour and compliance.
Officers have to make these judgement calls regularly on a daily basis, often in difficult circumstances.
Racist police aren't just in America #BLM pic.twitter.com/7DKgLnGPhc
— Linford Christie (@ChristieLinford) July 4, 2020
They understand that their actions will be scrutinised as they go about their work and that the public have the right to hold them to account where appropriate.
Officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards have reviewed both footage from social media, and the body-worn video of the officers and are satisfied that there is no concern around the officers’ conduct.
Commander for Central West BCU Helen Harper said: “I understand the concern when incidents like this happen and how they can appear when part of it is filmed without context.
“Due to the concern raised, we conducted a review of the stop. This included social media footage and body worn camera footage of the officers at the scene. We are satisfied that there are no misconduct issues.
“The officers were deployed to a high violence area of London and the manner of the driving raised suspicion, it is only right that they act on it.
“We are open to discussing the incident with the individuals involved if they wish to do so.”
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