Metropolitan Police condemns 'trial by social media' after Labour MP Dawn Butler stopped by officers
Scotland Yard deputy commissioner Sir Steve House says his officers acted "professionally and politely".
Wednesday 12 August 2020 09:34, UK
Labour MP Dawn Butler was stopped by police in London because of a "human error", the Metropolitan Police has said, as the force condemned the "trial by social media" of officers.
The MP for Brent Central filmed police stopping her "black friend" driving a "nice car" in Hackney, while she was in the passenger seat last weekend.
She accused the force of "racial profiling", but its deputy commissioner Sir Steve House said the officers made a mistake and "acted professionally, humanely and in service of the public".
He said in a statement: "The stop of a car in which Dawn Butler MP was travelling by Met officers on Sunday has prompted a lot of debate and it is important that the facts are fully understood."
Sir Steve said they were part of the Met's violent crime task force and that "criminals often use vehicles to travel in and to commit crime", so "officers will often check cars to see if there is anything that requires them to stop it and do further checks".
He said they could not see who was inside the car because the windows were tinted.
One of the officers made "a human error as he inputted the car registration" into the police database, which meant it falsely brought up details of a vehicle in Yorkshire, he said.
Defending his officers' actions, Sir Steve added: "The officers were not initially aware of this problem and as a result felt, with good reason, that they should do further checks on the car by stopping it and engaging with the occupants.
"I expect officers to have professional curiosity and I would have done the same.
"I have viewed all the available video material of that interaction and I have read their statements - the officers acted professionally and politely, explaining why the stop was made and, when realising there was a mistake, explaining this and continuing to answer the occupants' questions."
He slammed those criticising his officers online, saying: "The increasingly routine trial by social media is unfair and damaging to individual officers."
The deputy commissioner also condemned the "unacceptable and unwarranted" abuse Ms Butler received in response to her video on social media.
Ms Butler told Sky News after the incident: "We were stopped because we're two black people driving in a nice car in Hackney.
"I'm angry because I know it happens all the time every day. There's one group of people that are disproportionately policed.
"It is tiring and exhausting and mentally draining if you're black and getting treated like that."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed claims of institutional racism, adding: "The police have made a statement saying that they made a mistake."
It comes after the Met were forced to apologise for stopping and handcuffing British sprinter Bianca Williams and her partner Ricardo dos Santos while their three-month-old son was in the car.
The force referred itself to the police watchdog over the incident.