The MetBPA welcomes the call from the Home Secretary Theresa May for a Public Inquiry into police corruption and the use of undercover police units during the investigation of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.
Janet Hills, Chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association (MetBPA), stated “The new inquiry should not limit it’s investigation to just the Metropolitan Police Service, it must have a wider scope to include other police constabularies involved in gathering intelligence on Lawrence supporters, it must also focus on other families who may have suffered miscarriages of justice as a result of police corruption”.
The revelation that there were corrupt officers at the very heart of the investigation supports what the Lawrence family and Duwayne Brooks have known for the past 21 years.
The public deserve a Police service that they can trust and have the confidence that they will be treated fairly. Mrs Hills said “We police by consent and therefore there must be greater police accountability and transparency. There needs to be further police reform to facilitate increased public scrutiny of the police”.
To increase confidence in the police complaints system, the MetBPA is also calling for the disbanding of the Independent Police Complaints Commission to make way for the creation of a truly independent body that would also hold the police service to account and, where appropriate, initiate criminal prosecutions.
Mrs Hills said, “This judicial inquiry has been a long time coming and the opportunity should be used to establish the truth and to hold the Police service nationally to account. She added “The Association recognises that some progress had been made by the MPS in its management of race relations”, but stressed that more needed to be done to ensure that the Police service reflects the community that it serves and receives the full trust and confidence of all citizens.
Note to editors: All press enquiries to the Chair of the MetBPA, Janet Hills on 07887 635375.