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The police have sought to recruit a mole within the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK.


The anti-racism campaigner Lowri Davies shared the recording with the Guardian to raise awareness of what she alleges were “distressing” techniques used to try to manipulate her into providing information to the police. 


UPDATE: 14 Feb 2022

BLMSwansea. We’re dissolving our organisation for a number of reasons, including the physical and mental safety of all of our team members. Whilst we have found that our organisation has done some important work Read Twitter thread 1-5


SPY COPS - Police in Swansea, South Wales, UK attempt to recruit Black Lives Matter activist as an informant



Lowri Davies exposes Welsh Police who unsuccessfully attempted to recruit her for information on Black Lives Matter.


Lowri is one of the co-founders of the Swansea Black Lives Matter group and this is the first known public record of police attempting to recruit a mole from a member of the Black Lives Matter movement in Britain.

Stop & Search: Dawn Butler Investigates

INSTITUTIONAL RACISM

43 UK POLICE FORCES

Britain’s most senior police leaders are considering making a public admission that their forces are institutionally racist, the Guardian has learned.

High-level discussions began on Thursday and come as their special adviser on race says the declaration is needed if promises of radical reform are to be believed by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities. More discussions will be held in January, and a decision from police chiefs is expected in February.


"The race crisis that has gripped policing led to thousands of people taking to the streets across the UK in support of Black Lives Matter, triggered by the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in the US in May 2020."


Read: Guardian Exclusive


BLACK LIVES MATTER  

STOP & SEARCH

RACIST POLICING


As a police officer, I know stop and search is really about power - READ ARTICLE.


Met removes a thousand black men from controversial gang database

Februrary 2021


The Metropolitan Police have removed the names of one thousand young black men from a controversial database of gang members, almost a third of the database. The Gangs Matrix consists of the names and details of people that the Met perceive to be in a gang and likely to commit violence. The majority of the names removed were in what is called the ‘Green Banding’, meaning that they were found to have very low rates of offending and victimisation levels, if any at all, in the year before and after removal.


Read more...


Police probed after black woman punched during arrest - BBC Newsnight


Eight Met police are probed after an innocent black female student was pinned to ground and punched numerous times, once at the police station allegedly assaulted again in the cells and was subjected to a strip search in the cell in front of male police officers.



Met police officers told they must justify pre-arrest use of handcuffs, read more...

NET POL

Know Your Rights



Core Messages


The core messages that everyone should remember are:


No Comment

  • You do not need to answer police questions, so don’t.


No Personal Details

  • You do not have to give them under ANY stop and search power, so don’t.


No Duty Solicitor


No Cautions

  • Accepting a caution are an admission of guilt, so don’t.


What Power?

  • Ask officers what power they are relying on to challenge them to act lawfully.




NETPOL - Finding a Solicitor


Criminal Solicitors

Defend you if arrested / charged by the police:
find a list of recommended solicitors


Civil Solicitors

Make a complaint about or sue the police:
find a list of recommended solicitors


Prison Solicitors

Provide support for prisoners:
find a list of recommended solicitors


Public Solicitors

Challenge the lawfulness of legislation or policies:
find a list of recommended solicitors



GOV Ethnicity Facts & Figures service


The stop and search process

 

A police officer or a police community support officer (PCSO) in uniform can stop you but only police officers can search you. A police officer does not have to be in uniform but they must show you their warrant (ID) card.

 

The types of stops you may encounter



Stop and account


This is when a police officer or PCSO stops you in a public place and asks you to account for yourself and may ask you:

  • what you're doing
  • where you've been
  • where you're going
  • what you're carrying


Stop and search 


This is when a police officer stops and then searches you, a vehicle and anything you're carrying.


Vehicle stop 


This is when a police officer stops a vehicle.


What will happen 

What you should be told


The police officer or police community support officer must explain why you're being stopped and why you're being asked to account for your actions or presence in an area.

In almost all cases, you should be offered a record of the stop and account or stop and search at the time it happens.

The police use these powers to help make the local community safer by preventing and detecting crime. Naturally, public cooperation is an essential part of that.


Where you can be searched


Stop and search most often happens in public places. However, there are some powers, such as searching for firearms or drugs, which allow police to search people anywhere.


If you're in a public place, you may be required to remove your coat or jacket and your gloves, unless you've been stopped in relation to terrorism or where the officer believes you are using clothes to hide your identity.

If the officer asks you to take off more than this, or anything you wear for religious reasons, such as a face scarf, veil or turban, they must take you somewhere out of public view. This doesn’t mean you’re being arrested.


What to expect from the officer stopping or searching you


The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)


The officer must be polite and respectful at all times. We are committed to continuously improving standards around the delivery o service to our communities.


We're aware that the process may take a little time but it should be handled quickly and professionally. The police officer may ask a few questions and then, if they consider it necessary, will search you.


The search is not voluntary. If you don’t cooperate the officer can use reasonable force to conduct the search.

If the officer has a body worn video camera they'll record the encounter unless it's considered no longer necessary or proportionate.

If you're in a vehicle


A police officer can legally stop any vehicle at any time and ask to see driving documents, check the condition of the vehicle or deal with driving offences. This is not a stop and search and you may be given documentation relevant to road traffic matters. If the entire process ends there, this is considered a ‘vehicle stop'.


It becomes a stop and account if you or any passengers with you are asked to account for themselves.


If a police officer then searches the vehicle or persons in it, this is a stop and search.

Information you'll receive during a stop and search


The police officer who stops and searches you must provide you with certain information including:


  • why you've been stopped and searched
  • why they chose you
  • what they're looking for
  • their name and the station where they’re based (unless the search is in relation to suspected terrorist activity or giving his or her name may place the officer in danger. They must then give their warrant ID number)
  • the law under which you've been stopped
  • your right to a copy of the form


The information you'll be asked for

The police officer will ask for your:


  • name and address
  • date of birth
  • ethnicity


You don't have to give this information if you don't want to; unless the police officer says they're reporting you for an offence.

What you'll be given

You should be offered one of the following:


  • a written record of the stop and search
  • a receipt at the time of the event
  • a copy of the record emailed to you
  • you may be told where to collect the record later


If you wish to complain either about being stopped or searched or the way it was carried out, this record/receipt will help identify the circumstances.

The search record must contain the following information:


  • the officer's details
  • date, time and place of the stop and search
  • reason for the stop and search
  • outcome of the stop and search
  • your self-defined ethnicity
  • vehicle registration number (if relevant)
  • what the officer was looking for and anything they found
  • your name or a description if you refuse to give your name


Exceptions

You've not been subject to a stop and search if, for example:


  • you're searched as a condition of entry to premises or an event
  • you're searched following an arrest
  • you're searched in premises that are being searched under a warrant from a court


In cases like these, a stop and search record will not be made and you'll not be given a receipt

You've not been subject to stop and account if, for example:


  • you stop an officer to ask for directions or information
  • you've witnessed a crime and are questioned about it to establish the background to the incident
  • you've been in an area where a crime recently occurred and are questioned about what you might have seen


In cases like these, a record of the encounter will not be made and you'll not be given a receipt.



IOPC

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC)


Read all the information IOPC hold on each police force in England and Wales. This includes details about our investigations, news releases and anonymised summaries and recommendations. You can filter the information by date, type or area of interest.


IOPC also publish performance data for each force. This sets out how they handle and resolve complaints.


Make a complaint



Make a complaint


In the context of the police complaints system, the law describes a complaint as any expression of dissatisfaction with a police force that is expressed by or on behalf of a member of the public.


You can complain directly to the police/other organisation (see ‘Who can I complain about?’ below for a list of the other organisations) or via the IOPC. If you complain via the IOPC, your complaint will be sent direct to the organisation involved. They will assess your complaint and contact you about how it will be handled. The IOPC will not be involved with this initial assessment of your complaint.


If you are trying to raise concerns about something you have seen on social media or in the news or heard about from another person, please read this further information.

Before you submit a complaint, we recommend that you read the information in the drop-down sections below.


Library of Congress

Washington, D.C.

The United States Library of Congress has selected our website https://www.blacklivesmatter.uk/ for inclusion in the Library's historic collection of Internet materials related to the Protests Against Racism Web Archive.


They consider our website to be an important part of this collection and the historical record.

The Library of Congress preserves important cultural artifacts and provides enduring access to them. The Library's traditional functions, acquiring, cataloging, preserving and serving collection materials of historical importance to foster education and scholarship, extend to digital materials, including websites. The libary web archives are important because they contribute to the historical record, capturing information that could otherwise be lost. With the growing role of the web as an influential medium, records of historic events could be considered incomplete without materials that were "born digital" and never printed on paper.


When will our archived site be available to researchers?


Web archive collections are made available as permissions, Library policies, and resources permit. The Library will generally wait at least one year from initial capture of our website before making it available to researchers.