No Extra Police Killings, Time For Justice: On Saturday twenty seventh October 2012 I photographed the 14th annual march by the United Households & Buddies Marketing campaign (UFFC), a coalition of individuals whose relations and mates have died whereas within the care of police, prisons and in psychiatric detention.
Marcia Rigg holds the checklist of three,180 identified custody deaths since 1969
Tomorrow, twenty eighth October 2023 the UFFC will once more be marching from Trafalgar Sq. at midday, although the occasion will likely be relatively overshadowed by an enormous march going down on the similar time a brief distance away supporting Palestine. I hope to spend a while masking each occasions.
Again in 2012 I wrote a protracted publish, No Extra Police Killings, Time For Justice, on My London Diary concerning the occasion and little has modified since then, besides that the checklist of those that have died has grown longer. So at this time I’ll quote some massive components of that article, together with among the many footage I took then.
A gradual silent march in reminiscence of over 3000 individuals who have died in suspicious circumstances in custody since 1969 made its means slowly down Whitehall to Downing St, the place a rally known as for an finish to police violence and immunity from prosecution.
Among the many households concerned within the marketing campaign, lots of whom had been represented on the protest, had been these of Roger Sylvester, Leon Patterson, Rocky Bennett, Alton Manning, Christopher Alder, Brian Douglas, Pleasure Gardner, Aseta Simms, Ricky Bishop, Paul Jemmott, Harry Stanley, Glenn Howard, Mikey Powell, Jason McPherson, Lloyd Butler, Azelle Rodney, Sean Rigg, Habib Ullah, Olaseni Lewis, David Emmanuel (aka Smiley Tradition), Kingsley Burrell, Demetre Fraser, Mark Nunes and Mark Duggan. Yearly the checklist of names of those that have died in custody grows by a number of hundred – and among the many new names this yr had been Billy Spiller, killed on 5 Nov 2011 and Philmore Mills, killed in Slough on Dec 27, 2011 and Anthony Grainger, killed by police on 3 March 2012. A complete of three.180 whose names are identified since 1969, and there are others about which no particulars can be found. Many have died in conditions the place foul play appears apparent, however not one single police or jail officer has been convicted.
Folks carry a coffin on which households wrote the names of these killed
There they got here to a halt on the southbound roadway and held a rally at which many representatives of the households who’re campaigning for justice spoke. Their tales had been a horrific indictment of the UK police and justice system, with case after case of primarily match and wholesome males (and their have been some notable ladies) being detained by police and after a remarkably brief time within the arms of the police being useless. Most however not all had been black, however there was appreciable settlement when one of many audio system mentioned it was not a matter of race however of sophistication; some police felt they might deal with working-class folks they detained how they appreciated, and that they might actually get away with homicide.
Carole Duggan described the officer who shot her nephew Mark Duggan final yr as “a serial killer in a uniform”
As an alternative the police difficulty lies to the press – as within the case of Mark Duggan whose capturing which seems to have been an extra-judicial exection – sparked the latest riots, saying that the victims had been pointing weapons at police or false tales about medicine or gang connections or different tales which give lurid headlines. Typically proof later emerges which implies they should retract these tales – as within the case of the fully harmless Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes.
Jan Butler, mom of Lloyd Butler who died in a police cel
These and different instances usually too see cops colluding with one another over tales – which once more usually unravel as extra proof emerges. We’ve seen too the deliberate use of discredited forensic investigators, as after the killing of Ian Tomlinson, in addition to in that case and plenty of others the deliberate use of delaying techniques within the investigation. CCTV proof appears typically to mysteriously disappear, police fail to query officers who’re the important thing suspects, and extra. The Impartial Police Complaints Fee has clearly too usually has didn’t be unbiased, usually seeming to intentionally keep away from or cover the the reality and to assist the police in getting away actually with homicide.
Stephanie Lightfoot-Bennet, twin sister of Leon Patterson
Within the article I went on to offer some particulars of the instances that relations spoke about, together with the instances of Mark Duggan, shot by police in London, Anthony Grainger shot in Warrington, Lloyd Butler who died in a police cell, Kingsley Burrell who died in hospital after police had sectioned him when he known as for assist, Leon Patterson, battered to demise in a police cell in Manchester in 1992, Demetre Fraser, Jason McPherson, Christopher Alder and others. I needed to depart whereas some relations had been nonetheless ready to talk.
As I left the rally a small group of EDL members got here and commenced to shout abuse. Police did quickly reply and lead them away, and stewards from the rally tried onerous to cease folks chasing them. I reported “I photographed one man abusing a photographer, forcing her to run quickly backwards as he ran at her, and one other with a digital camera making an attempt to cover his face behind his coat as he was being photographed working away.” I feel he had been photographing for the EDL and had assaulted a lady who had photographed him.
Janet Alder – her brother Christopher was killed by police in Hull in 1992
Within the article I checklist the ten calls for contained in a letter the UFFC had been to ship to Downing St on the finish of the rally. I don’t assume any of them have been met. Though the IPCC – the so-called Impartial Police Complaints Fee – was changed in 2018 by a brand new Impartial Workplace for Police Conduct, IOPC, which appears equally flawed. It nonetheless makes use of the police to research the police and of over 23,000 complaints made about poor policing between 2020-2021, solely 18 resulted in a police officer dealing with a misconduct assembly or listening to.
This entry was posted on Friday, October twenty seventh, 2023 at 08:51 am and is filed underneath My Personal Work, Political Points. You may comply with any responses to this entry by the RSS 2.0 feed.
