My new action plan will help fight systemic racism and make the Metropolitan Police more diverse

From the shocking killing of George Floyd by police officers in Minnesota to the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Black and minority ethnic communities, 2020 has highlighted in the starkest terms the devastating human consequences of systemic racism.

I not only recognise the serious and lasting impact that entrenched racism is still having on our society, but I feel it personally as a Londoner from a minority ethnic background, who has spent my entire life living, working, and raising a family in the capital.  

The London of today is no doubt a very different and fairer city than when I was growing up. And I’m proud to be the mayor of a city that prides itself on being a global beacon of diversity, fairness and equality. But it’s clear that even here, we still have a huge amount of work to do to root out the conscious and unconscious bias and systemic racism that still exists in our public institutions and society as a whole.  

That’s why it’s essential that we listen, learn and respond to the frustrations voiced by Black people, captured so vividly by the Black Lives Matter protests this summer, about the racial and social injustices they still suffer when they interact with our public institutions – from the police service and our education system, to the courts, the health service and beyond. As mayor of London, I want to lead by example and do everything I can to accelerate progress towards a fairer, more equal, more just city. That’s why I’m launching a new plan today which is about taking immediate and concrete steps to address the low level of trust and confidence that many Black Londoners feel towards the Metropolitan Police Service, which I oversee as mayor on behalf of all Londoners.  

There is no doubt that the Met Police has made significant and positive steps forward since the 1999 Stephen Lawrence report, which was a landmark moment in the history of race relations in our country. It had a transformative effect on policing and the Met is a very different police service to the one it was 20 years ago. But more needs to be done to ensure we have a truly representative police service that looks like the diverse city it serves, and to recognise and address the impact of some police tactics, such as stop and search, that are disproportionately affecting Black Londoners. We need all communities in London to have trust in the use of police powers as the Met goes about the vital work of tackling crime.

So over the last few months, my team and I have been listening to the experiences and concerns of Black Londoners. We have heard extensive testimony about the changes they want to see in their police service. The result is this action plan. 

The focus is on preventing the disproportionate impact of police tactics affecting Black Londoners, such as stop and search and the use of force, and improving transparency and accountability around the way these powers are being deployed. The plan will involve overhauling community scrutiny of police tactics, improving training for police officers and ensuring that the Met’s workforce is more representative of our great city.

As part of this action plan, the Met want to see as many as 40 per cent of new recruits from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds from 2022 and the police commissioner has also decided the Met will re-introduce, from today, the London residency criteria for most new recruits, which should help towards achieving this target. This work will be supported by £300,000 of City Hall investment to encourage young Black Londoners to consider a career in policing.  

A recurring and understandable question throughout our consultation for this plan has been whether institutional racism continues to exist in the Met Police. The fact that this question is still being asked demonstrates how much more work needs to be done to ensure that we can gain the trust and confidence of all Black Londoners. There are no easy answers, and the process of producing this plan has been uncomfortable and challenging at times. But it was absolutely the right thing to do to ensure that we can now make the progress we all want to see.

At City Hall, we have been working very closely with the Met Police throughout the development of the new action plan. The commissioner, Cressida Dick, has committed to working hard to eliminate any racism and discrimination in the Met and I’m pleased that she will be taking forward the new initiatives for greater scrutiny and targets that we are setting out.

As we saw over the summer with Black Lives Matter, frustrations expressed by Black Londoners about racial injustice can be used by others to sow division within our society. I want to make clear that this action plan is absolutely not about being anti-police or not supporting our police officers to do their crucial job. Quite the opposite. There is no question that we have many brilliant police officers who work extremely hard to keep us safe. And, as mayor, I’ve always used all the powers and funding at my disposal to give the Met the support they need to tackle crime in London – all in the face of ongoing government austerity that has caused deep cuts to policing.

But it’s absolutely vital that all communities in London have trust in our police both to keep them safe and to treat them fairly and that the police have the confidence to be able to use their powers to bear down on the scourge of violent crime, which has such a devastating effect on families and communities.

In working together to deliver this plan, we can build stronger bonds between communities and the police, which will help us to confront and resolve the often difficult and emotive issues that the police tackle on our behalf every day. By doing so, our police officers will be able to have more confidence in how they do their job and will gain greater support from across all of our communities, particularly among Black Londoners for whom having a police service that they feel properly represents and listens to them is key. Ultimately this will lead to communities more willing and able to work together with the police to tackle crime and stop those who cause them harm. I’m confident that all of this, in turn, will lead to London becoming a fairer, safer and better place for everyone.

Sadiq Khan is the mayor of London