Two London police officers were fired on Wednesday after they were found guilty of gross misconduct during the stop and search of two black professional sprinters.
The disciplinary hearing concluded that the officers had lied about smelling cannabis in the car that British athlete Bianca Williams and her Portuguese sprinter partner Ricardo Dos Santos were travelling in.
This is the latest scandal to hit Britain’s biggest police force, the capital’s Metropolitan Police.
The force had already apologised to Williams and dos Santos after they accused officers of racial profiling following the stop three years ago.
The Met reiterated the apology after Wednesday’s verdict and stated that honesty and integrity are at the core of policing, and there can be no place in the Met for officers who do not uphold these values.
Jonathan Clapham and Sam Franks were found to have breached standards of professional behaviour concerning honesty and integrity, which amounted to gross misconduct.
After the incident, Williams told BBC radio that the police assumed that Dos Santos was involved in some sort of gang, drug, or violence problem because he was driving a black car.
The misconduct panel did not uphold the allegations against three of the officers but concluded that Clapham and Franks had lied about smelling cannabis during the stop.
Williams and Dos Santos were handcuffed and their car was searched in July 2020 in London’s Maida Vale area, but nothing was found.
Last year, the police standards watchdog said that British forces disproportionately stopped and searched people from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds.
The Met accepted the watchdog’s recommendations that it should amend its stop and search policies.
IOPC director Steve Noonan said: “I want to acknowledge Bianca and Ricardo who, having spoken out about their experience, showed considerable patience and determination while they waited for the outcome of their complaint.
“The stop and search in which they were both handcuffed, in front of their infant child, was clearly highly distressing for them and also caused widespread community concern about the use of stop and search powers by police.
“These officers have now been publicly held accountable for their actions. We, at the Independent Office for Police Conduct, decided the officers had a case to answer for their actions and that they should face these misconduct proceedings.
“But only a police misconduct panel, led by an independently and legally qualified chair, could decide whether or not the case was proven. That panel has now decided that officers PC Jonathan Clapham and PC Sam Franks be dismissed without notice for breaching the police standard of professional behaviour relating to honesty and integrity for claiming they could smell cannabis on Ricardo.
“We are acutely aware that Bianca and Ricardo’s interaction with police and their feeling of being treated less favourably by officers because of their race is reflective of the experiences of many Black people across London and throughout England and Wales.
“We know that Black people are almost nine times more likely to be stopped and searched by police than White people, and nearly nine times more likely to be searched for drugs – despite a lower find rate of drugs for Black people than White people. The officers in this case claimed they smelled cannabis in the athletes’ car despite no drugs being found in the search.
“It’s figures like these and cases like Bianca and Ricardo’s which emphasise why Black people report having low trust and confidence in policing.
“The Casey review highlighted widespread cultural issues and discriminatory conduct or attitudes in the Met. It’s clear that the Met and policing as a whole need to work hard to restore the trust and confidence of Black people. We acknowledge that the Met’s Commissioner has accepted systemic and cultural failings in his force and has put plans in place to attempt to rebuild trust with Londoners.
“We would encourage anyone who feels they have been mistreated or discriminated against by the police to exercise your right to complain. It is only by speaking up, that you can make your voice heard.”
The incident has once again brought the issue of racial profiling to the forefront and highlighted the need for stricter regulations and training within the police force.
