This is just shocking (trigger warning -racism)

[iloverock]

www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/department-for-education-metropolitan-police-services-scotland-yard-hackney-b988292.html

Please read the formal review.

Essentially the teaching staff called the police because a black 15 year old girl smelt of cannabis. She was taken to a room and strip searched. She was on her period. Her mother wasn't notified. She was not given the opportunity for an appropriate adult to be present.

It's terrifying that so many adults, professionals, seemed to think this was OK. You can kind of see how one rogue (vile) Police officer could be on a racist power trip, but why would colleagues and other professionals let it happen?

If you read the case findings report it is pretty clear what the primary reason for all this happening was. ie, she is black. It is just disgraceful.

I'm absolutely certain that the appalling treatment she received was because she was black, my query is why police attended at all. IME they never come to cannabis in schools reports.

@DetailMouse

It's terrifying that so many adults, professionals, seemed to think this was OK. You can kind of see how one rogue (vile) Police officer could be on a racist power trip, but why would colleagues and other professionals let it happen?

Their own stereotyping would be the answer to that question.

Do we think it was a very posh/expensive school?

It can't be unusual for schools in Hackney to be dealing with (black and white) children smelling of weed?

I just can't work out why there was such a disproportionate response in this case. The treatment is obviously down to the poor child's race, but why did police think it was worthy of their time at all?

@DetailMouse

Do we think it was a very posh/expensive school?

It can't be unusual for schools in Hackney to be dealing with (black and white) children smelling of weed?

I just can't work out why there was such a disproportionate response in this case. The treatment is obviously down to the poor child's race, but why did police think it was worthy of their time at all?

You know weed use is rampant amongst middle class kids in posh schools? All those liberal parents in the media etc? Plus the entitlement that they won’t get ‘done’ at their cocaine fuelled parties?

Look: the police as an institution are hell bent on their racist power trip. And no friends of women and girls. They have just been found to have abused their powers in the Clapham Common incident, remember?

Those...But, but how do we know her being black had anything to do with it? Posters, are part of the problem. The report quite clearly has stated that her race played a major part in how she was treated.

*I have a question for the parents of white school age daughters. Can you imagine your daughter being strip searched at school while she was on her period? Can you imagine police asking to do it? Can you imagine teachers permitting it?

*I can't imagine a child being strip searched at all. I felt sick to my stomach when I read that adults in power were allowed to do this to her at all, let alone without involving her parents. Stripping to her underwear would have been humiliating enough but a full strip search as if she's hiding drugs like a mule is completely disproportionate.

I like Hackney Council's strongly worded response to this outrage in terms of safeguarding concerns and review. But this will likely be kicked into the long grass of 'lessons will be learned', never to be heard of again. The school and the police will get away with this.

This. The Met have clearly learned fuck all from the institutional racism findings of the Stephen Lawrence enquiry.

Has Cressida Dick made any statement? Because quite frankly she should resign over this.

You ask how could those female officers not realise how awful this was? How could they not have remembered the procedures and policies they’re bound to follow? Of course they did. Theywantedto humiliate and degrade. It’s normal to them to do so.

I completely agree @givethatbabyaname. Hopefully the names of the racist, child sex abusing cunts will be made known because fuck all is going to happen to them professionally.

Does anyone really want this sort of scum in our police service?

@BloodyN0rah

It gets worse the more I hear. Apologists above, you are part of the problem!

Everyone is part of the problem regardless of their views on the case in question. If you don't like something about the way this country does things, either change them or find somewhere that does behave perfectly.

There isn't a single person in this country who has done enough to prevent things like this occurring. We're all equally culpable. People who aren't racist in anyway, who vote for people who aren't racist, who attend demonstrations against racism are still guilty because they rarely/never take action that would put their own position at risk.

Anyway in this case surely the answer would have been to have used a dog on the suspect, a trained drugs dog would be able to quickly determine whether there was anything to warrant a thorough search. I'd also be questioning the teachers on how they knew what cannabis smells like - I doubt every single person who seems to know has been to Amsterdam or other places that have legalised it. To know the smell you must have inhaled it.

You know weed use is rampant amongst middle class kids in posh schools? All those liberal parents in the media etc? Plus the entitlement that they won’t get ‘done’ at their cocaine fuelled parties?

Yes of course I do. I wondered if the police were more likely to attend at such a school than they are at the rough state school where I work .

@DetailMouse

You know weed use is rampant amongst middle class kids in posh schools? All those liberal parents in the media etc? Plus the entitlement that they won’t get ‘done’ at their cocaine fuelled parties?

Yes of course I do. I wondered if the police were more likely to attend at such a school than they are at the rough state school where I work .

More likely to be called and attend a school with a higher ratio of black students maybe?

I also wonder if there was an element of resentment on somebody's part, that despite not only being black but black with dreadlocks, and possibly smoking or being around weed, this girl was doing so well at school. A desire to take her down a peg or two. If she was literally top of the class, maybe a racist teacher or teachers who consciously or unconsciously wanted a white pupil to have that honour.

From my own experience with certain teachers and other black people's this is more common than you realise.

@CounsellorTroi Ms Dick has already resigned. She isn't actually leaving until her replacement is found. That replacement has to satisfy both the Home Office and the Mayor of London....

I don't know, but IME police never attend schools when called for any drug related incident, even dealing, whatever colour those involved are, so this raises questions for me.

What will it take for people to let go of the fairy tale that the Met police are all goodies?

I'm not sure many people do think the Met are all goodies. I think the outrage is that despite the reports, reviews, committees, it seems the Met can and will continue to be institutionally racist, and there's no power able or willing to stop them. It feels futile

Of course it was because she was black. And black and clever/academic. Why else such a massive, massive and disproportionate over reaction? If you walk anywhere in London or Manchester and actually pretty much any other urban environment these days you can see and smell people smoking weed. Its way more visible and way stronger than it was when i was at school (and everyone smoked it - posh international school). If you walk down any high street in London you will see and smell dozens of people, of all demographics and races smoking it - admittedly mainly males. Ive literally just come back from the small high street in my small suburban commuter town and wlaked through a cut through where 3 of the workers at the local care place were smoking it on their fag break (mixed races/appearances). My kids mates virtually all smoke weed (elder teens) - from both his independent school and his local football clubs - so kids from all background, races, demographics, family income etc, its only the ones that play sports competitively or are into fitness or are very academic who don't. And actually they are over represented at his school by black and asian chidren in both sports and academics.

I cannot believe the naivete here. And to say you have to have smoked weed or have been to amsterdam to recognise the smell!? You dont, you just have to walk down a high street!

To be fair, if you live in London & have kids you know what it smells like.

I didn’t know the smell until a few years ago. I’d smelt it but not known what it was. Dd (who has been to Amsterdam) & Ds (who has classmates openly on weed) both started saying to me as we were walking round the streets, can you not smell that, so I learnt what it was.

I visited Dd in West London a few weeks ago and the smell was everywhere.

About a month ago someone smelt weed at ds’s college. Everyone was made to open their bags, turn out pockets etc. nothing was found (surprisingly). No-one even thought to take it further. It was a class of working class white boys.

This girl was apparently warned a few weeks prior, even though nothing had been found on her on that occasion either. All because she had associated with/known someone who had been expelled fir drugs. Guilty by association? Stereotypes? It stinks.

My husband has worked in schools with some very openly racist teachers. One of the worst racists. left teaching to join the police force. A female.

[quote RedWingBoots]@CounsellorTroi Ms Dick has already resigned. She isn't actually leaving until her replacement is found. That replacement has to satisfy both the Home Office and the Mayor of London....[/quote]
Indeed she has, that had slipped my memory!

The pp's who are questioning racism, open your eyes, your mind.
If you don't understand it, listen to the pp's who've experienced racism and learn to recognise the struggles non white people face every day.
Discrimination, rights ignored, the report concluded racism was involved.
Excuses are embarrassing and shameful.

@CounsellorTroi this incident is amongst the many others showing the toxic culture that exists in the police force she runs. She claims the Met isn't institutionally racist yet this and other incidents show it hasn't changed since the Macpherson report.

Shame the report couldn't name who runs the school in question as some academies are known for having racist policies.

@Nicholethejewellery Sorry but I totally disagree, we are not all 'equally culpable'. Ordinary non-racist and anti-racist citizens with limited power are not culpable for the actions of the Met and the inaction of our government.

That attitude actually damages attempts to move things forward, in my opinion, because now you are attacking ordinary non-racist and anti-racist people.

Also many people know what cannabis smells like, just as I know what cigarettes smell like and I know what diesel fumes smell like.

[quote carefullycourageous]@Nicholethejewellery Sorry but I totally disagree, we are not all 'equally culpable'. Ordinary non-racist and anti-racist citizens with limited power are not culpable for the actions of the Met and the inaction of our government.

That attitude actually damages attempts to move things forward, in my opinion, because now you are attacking ordinary non-racist and anti-racist people.

Also many people know what cannabis smells like, just as I know what cigarettes smell like and I know what diesel fumes smell like.[/quote]
That is completely correct.

this incident is amongst the many others showing the toxic culture that exists in the police force she runs. She claims the Met isn't institutionally racist yet this and other incidents show it hasn't changed since the Macpherson report.

Cressida Dick is a liar. The only people she gives a shit about protecting are police officers and MPs, just like every other head of the corrupt racist, sexist, not fit for purpose and sometimes downright dangerous, Met Police Force.