3,000 police officers under investigation for alleged assaults against public (5 May 2015)

Figures revealed after a Freedom of Information request show that more than 3,000 police officers are being investigated for police brutality – with people form the black and Asian community more likely to complain about police aggression than white people.

The data also reveal that most police officers being investigated for police brutality are still on duty, with just 2% being suspended after allegations have been made against them.

Out of 3,082 police officers currently under investigation, half serve with the Metropolitan Police and West Midlands Police, which serve the most ethnically diverse populations in the country.

The figures also show that, despite ethnic minorities comprising around one third of London’s population, around 55 per cent of those who have made a complaint about police brutality in London are from ethnic minorities.

In the West Midlands, the black and Asian communities comprise 14% of the population – but nearly half the allegations about police assaults on members of the public are made by people from those communities.

Speaking to The Independent newspaper, the founder of the Birmingham Empowerment Forum, Desmond Jaddoo, said:

“Trust and confidence in the police is still at its lowest.

“I'm not anti-police – the problem is some officers are abusing their power.”

Mr Jaddoo added that the relationship between the black community and the police was currently one of “master and oppressor”.

Also speaking to The Independent, Birmingham community activist, Tippa Naphtali, said:

“Some officers have it in their heads that any black person, regardless of size, is going to be violent – and their response coincides with that in terms of levels of brutality or restraint they use.”

The Daily Mail reports that, out of 146 ongoing assault investigations in the West Midlands in which the ethnicity of the alleged victim is known, a total of 71 complainants are white (49%) and 69 are black or Asian (47.5%). The figures show that a total of 450 West Midlands Police officers are currently under investigation, but just five have been suspended.

In London, a total of 1,185 Metropolitan Police officers remain on full duty, despite being under investigation for a total of 714 alleged police assaults.

Police have recorded the ethnicity of the complainant in 443 cases and a total of 191 (43%) involve people who are from a white ethnic background – while 243 (55%) cases involve people who are black or Asian.

West Midlands police declined to comment on the figures.

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