Stuart Lawrence says he is victim of harassment by officers who have stopped him in his car 25 times because of his colour
The brother of Stephen Lawrence has launched a complaint against the Metropolitan police claiming he has been the victim of a sustained campaign of harassment after being stopped by officers 25 times.
Stuart Lawrence, whose brother was murdered in a racist attack nearly 20 years ago, said he believed he was being targeted by police while driving because of the colour of his skin. The teacher, 35, told the Daily Mail he had been repeatedly pulled over in his car over many years for “no apparent reason and without any justification”.
Lawrence said he felt compelled to make an official complaint after an incident on 16 November near his home in Peckham, south London, when two officers pulled him over while he was driving in his VW Scirocco.
After asking why he had been stopped, he said one of the officers replied that he had been “naturally suspicious” of him.
Lawrence said: “I am being targeted because of the colour of my skin, I don’t think it’s because I am Stephen’s brother. Whenever I have been stopped, I have never subsequently been charged with anything, and nothing has ever been found to be wrong with my car.
“I have never, ever, done anything wrong. I have never been in trouble with the law. I have paid my road tax and my insurance, and always tried to keep my cars in a roadworthy state.
“Of the 25 or so occasions in which I have been stopped, only two have been at police checkpoints – where they are verifying people’s tax and insurance. The rest have been random stops.”
Lawrence’s lawyers sent the letter of complaint to the Met commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe, outlining details of his ordeal and the names of the officers involved in the most recent stop-and-search incident in November.
The Met deputy commissioner, Craig Mackey, said the force received the complaint on Tuesday night.
He said: “This is a very serious matter and it will be investigated thoroughly and speedily. Stop and search is an important tool to beat crime and is supported by the community if it is used professionally and fairly. Officers are accountable for their actions and it is therefore essential complaints such as this are fully investigated.”
He added that the commissioner had made it clear racism would not be tolerated in the force.
A few weeks ago, David Cameron and Nick Clegg wrote to Stephen’s mother, Doreen Lawrence, to assure her the coalition was doing all it could to promote fair treatment of ethnic minorities in all government policies.
“We know you have worked tirelessly to drive these improvements and are extremely grateful to you for your work. We also want to reiterate the government’s commitment to equal treatment and equal opportunity,” they wrote.
Lawrence told the Mail he “reluctantly accepted” that being stopped by police was part of life growing up in south London. “But as I am getting older now, the circumstances in which I am stopped are more ludicrous and more over the top,” he said.
“In recent years, I have been stopped during my lunch break at work. The police were checking tax discs. I have also been stopped on my first day back to work after the summer holidays, which meant I was late for the first briefing meeting for work.
“On this occasion, I was pulled over randomly just before I got to the traffic lights. I explained this to the officer, that I was on my way to work, but he insisted on going through the process of checking who I was, and checking my car was taxed, insured and in good working order.
“I have reservations now about the type of car I can drive because I don’t want to increase the amount of times I am stopped.
“It appears not much progress has been made in how they deal with black people. I just want police to do their jobs properly. I don’t want them to waste time on people like me. Their time could be better spent elsewhere, rather than pulling me over.
“They could be out solving crimes. A lot of recommendations were made by the Macpherson inquiry but it seems that it hasn’t made much difference.
“I would like to know when things are going to change, when is there going to be a society where you are not pulled over because you are a black guy or a black person driving a particular car. The decision to stop someone in their car should be based on a sound reason, rather than the colour of your skin.
“I have met some really good police officers who work hard to protect the community. But it only takes a small handful of people with the wrong type of attitude to make it feel like things have not changed since the Macpherson inquiry.”
Imran Khan, Lawrence’s solicitor, said his complaint related specifically to the occasion when he was stopped at 5.20pm on 16 November.
“That was the straw that broken the camel’s back,” he said. “That was the culmination of a course of conduct over many years which amounted to harassment and discrimination based upon his skin colour, his ethnic origin.”
Scotland Yard is expected to refer the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Lawyers hope the complaint can be resolved out of court. Khan added: “We are delighted that [Scotland Yard is] pursuing it so quickly.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/09/stephen-lawrence-brother-racism-police
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