Met Police Apologises To Team GB's Bianca Williams For 'Distress' Caused By Stop And Search
The Met Police has apologised to athlete Bianca Williams for the “distress” caused by a stop and search which she claims was a result of racial profiling.
The force’s commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, said that although two reviews of the incident had found there was no apparent misconduct, it had been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) because of “the level of public concern”.
Speaking to the Home Affairs Select Committee on Wednesday, she said: “We apologised yesterday to Ms Williams and I apologise again for the distress this stop clearly caused her.
“Yesterday two of my officers spoke on our behalf to Ms Williams, and I think all of us watching could empathise with somebody who is stopped in a vehicle, who has a young child in the back, who does not probably know what exactly is going on, and is subsequently found, together with her partner, not to be carrying anything illicit.”
A video of the incident, which saw the Great Britain sprinter and her partner Ricardo dos Santos pulled from their car in a London street, was posted online by former Olympic medallist Linford Christie.
Williams has said she believes officers racially profiled her and dos Santos – a Portuguese 400-metre runner – when they were handcuffed and separated from their three-month-old son.
Dame Cressida said she has asked a senior officer to review the Met’s handcuffing practices to make sure it hasn’t become a “default”, and has set up an “oversight group” looking at the use of force, PA Media reports.
“Every time we see a video that is of concern we review them, we see if there are any lessons learned,” she told MPs.
“My senior officer has said… I’m sorry to Ms Williams for the distress, it has clearly caused her, and I say that, too.
“So, if there are lessons to be learned from it, we will learn them, and I’m looking at handcuffing as a specific issue.”
Nothing was found in the search, which the Met said was carried out by...
