‘Toxic relations’ with police blamed for Tottenham riot

A community-led inquiry has concluded that “toxic relations” with the police led to widespread rioting across the capital last summer.

The Citizens’ Inquiry into the Tottenham Riots, published this week by a team made up of local individuals and organisations in North London, found that the riots were caused partly by high youth unemployment and toxic relations with local police, while interviews with locals revealed that they felt their area “was left to burn”.

The report was published following three months of work which included interviews with 700 people. It found that 29 per cent of respondents blamed police management for the riots in Tottenham, while 23 per cent said police abuse, including the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) stop and search policy, was one of the main causes of disorder.

The breakdown of trust and respect was also highlighted by members of the local St Mary’s Church who told researchers they were verbally attacked by other residents for offering food and respite to officers during the riots.

Other key supporting evidence identified by the team include:

•54.7 per cent of the population of Haringey is from an ethnic minority background, but only one in ten police officers in London are from the same background;

•Black people constitute 11 per cent of London’s population – between 2009/10, 28 per cent of those stopped and searched by police were black; and

•The Independent Police Complaint Commission (IPCC) investigated 460 deaths following or during police contact, including 21 fatal shootings. However, not a single conviction has been made.

The commissioners – made up of nine prominent locals – concluded: “From the stories we’ve heard, there has been a long-term deterioration of the relationship between people in our community and the police, in particular young people from ethnic minorities. Stop and search was frequently described as being excessive and disrespectful.

“It is extremely disturbing to hear so many people say that they felt Tottenham has simply been left to burn by the police. People need clear answers as to why the police did not intervene sooner to stop the rioting. Regrettably, without a proactive attempt to explain this and build trust we will not see an improved relationship between the community and the police.”

Among other issues identified as contributory factors to the riots, the panel found that 53.1 per cent of people said unemployment was the key cause of the disorder, 32.9 per cent identified poverty as a significant factor while 50 per cent said opportunism was the reason, but no one said opportunism or criminality was the sole cause.

A number of recommendations were made to help improve community relationships with the police, including:

•The introduction of a six-month orientation process involving local communities to be piloted beginning with 50 new officers arriving later this month;

•Police should work with North London Citizens to bring local community leaders into the training and orientation of new Haringey officers;

•North London Citizens should help to broker a relationship between the MPS and RARE recruitment, which specialises in recruitment for people from a diverse background, to pilot a scheme to

increase the number of ethnic minorities in the police force;

•A City Safe zone should be created in Tottenham where shops, schools and cafes report 100 per cent of crime and pledge to offer a safe place for any young person in immediate danger – a City Safe Haven. Developing City Safe Zones should be led by young people and supported by Haringey Police; and

•The Haringey Borough Commander and the MPS Commissioner should make a public statement to address the feeling that Tottenham was ‘left to burn’ and this should be developed into a proactive strategy to rebuild trust locally.