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| Met police criticised over 'gang call-in' letter | Met police criticised over 'gang call-in' letter |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Lawyers and civil liberties groups have criticised the Metropolitan police for a letter to young people that said they would be treated as criminals if they refused an invitation to a community meeting. | Lawyers and civil liberties groups have criticised the Metropolitan police for a letter to young people that said they would be treated as criminals if they refused an invitation to a community meeting. |
| The letter sent by police to two dozen young people – all believed to be black – in Brent, north-west London, demanded their attendance at a “gang call-in” meeting days after a stabbing. | |
| Although none of the recipients were suspects in the attack, which is being treated as attempted murder, the letter said police would see failure to attend “as a clear message that you intend to continue with your criminal lifestyle”. | Although none of the recipients were suspects in the attack, which is being treated as attempted murder, the letter said police would see failure to attend “as a clear message that you intend to continue with your criminal lifestyle”. |
| It continued: “As such, we will work hard to disrupt your activities utilising every legitimate means available to us.” | It continued: “As such, we will work hard to disrupt your activities utilising every legitimate means available to us.” |
| Critics accused police of racial profiling and using heavy-handed threats. One lawyer suggested recipients could sue. Police at the meeting even apologised for the way it was drafted, witnesses told the Guardian. | Critics accused police of racial profiling and using heavy-handed threats. One lawyer suggested recipients could sue. Police at the meeting even apologised for the way it was drafted, witnesses told the Guardian. |
| But advocates of the police’s strategy, while conceding the tone of the letter was misjudged, defended its aim, which was to invite young people to meet agencies who could help divert them from gang crime. | But advocates of the police’s strategy, while conceding the tone of the letter was misjudged, defended its aim, which was to invite young people to meet agencies who could help divert them from gang crime. |
| Police sent the letter on 19 August to 24 young people after the daylight stabbing of a 24-year-old man on Kilburn High Street. It told recipients that police intelligence had linked them to gangs in the area. | Police sent the letter on 19 August to 24 young people after the daylight stabbing of a 24-year-old man on Kilburn High Street. It told recipients that police intelligence had linked them to gangs in the area. |
| Cecil Gutzmore, a member of the London Campaign Against Police and State Violence (LCAPSV), who attended the meeting as an observer, told the Guardian that just two invitees turned up. Several others were represented by their mothers. | Cecil Gutzmore, a member of the London Campaign Against Police and State Violence (LCAPSV), who attended the meeting as an observer, told the Guardian that just two invitees turned up. Several others were represented by their mothers. |
| “The meeting didn’t go as planned because the mothers and the two invitees were very strong,” Gutzmore, a retired academic, said. He said they asked why the letter was sent with that tone. “The police conceded that the tone of the letter was wrong.” | |
| The disruption thwarted efforts to focus the meeting on events surrounding the stabbing, Gutzmore said. | The disruption thwarted efforts to focus the meeting on events surrounding the stabbing, Gutzmore said. |
| Roy Croasdaile, chairman of the Brent Stop and Search Monitoring Group, who helped distribute the letter, said he was not comfortable with its content, although he supported the meeting’s aim. “I was the first person to amend and send feedback from the young men I spoke to and their solicitors to the police with regard to the ambiguity and offence that was taken,” he said. | |
| “After all, it was meant to be an invitation to obtain support and was received as threatening. We have all learned lessons from this for the future and I would like to think that this will not be repeated.” | “After all, it was meant to be an invitation to obtain support and was received as threatening. We have all learned lessons from this for the future and I would like to think that this will not be repeated.” |
| Croasdaile added that the two young men who did attend proved to be “the stars of the meeting”, making a big impact on how it progressed and engaging with the charitable groups that had come to help them. | Croasdaile added that the two young men who did attend proved to be “the stars of the meeting”, making a big impact on how it progressed and engaging with the charitable groups that had come to help them. |
| Defending the letter and the strategy, Chf Insp Nicholas Davies said: “The key to tackling gang violence in Brent is for the Metropolitan police service to work in partnership with those communities most affected. As a partnership, we want to do everything that we can to encourage these young people to change their life styles. We offer help with health, employment, education and training.” | |
| A Met spokeswoman said: “The letter was deliberately strongly worded to make an impact and aimed to leave gang members in no doubt what awaits them if they continue with their current behaviour.” | A Met spokeswoman said: “The letter was deliberately strongly worded to make an impact and aimed to leave gang members in no doubt what awaits them if they continue with their current behaviour.” |
| Lawyers and civil liberties groups warned that, at bestm that approach could do more harm than good. At worst, it seemed to be an exercise in racial profiling and coercion. A spokesman for LCAPSV said: “What this letter shows is that the Metropolitan police are willing to use baseless threats to get black families to comply with their demands.” | |
| LCAPSV is campaigning to raise awareness of the Met’s Operation Shield, a new initiative using a similar tactic of community “call-ins”. Currently on pilot in three boroughs, the scheme targets supposed gang members under the principle of joint enterprise if alleged associates are convicted. | |
| Giovanna Midgley, a member of StopWatch, which campaigns on police use of stop and search, called the letter heavy-handed and warned it seemed to breach the principle of innocent until proven guilty. “It is bewildering that Brent police will be considering non-responses from households an admission of criminal activity,” she said. “Guilt is proven by good police work, not by whether someone attends a meeting or not.” | |
| Midgley’s assessment was shared by lawyers contacted by the Guardian, one of whom suggested that it could even form the basis of a lawsuit against the police. Jules Carey, a human rights partner at Bindmans, said: “A communication like this inevitably results in the police being seen as biased and untrustworthy by those affected and erodes police community relations.” | |