Anger over police red tape
A row over police paperwork broke out today at the launch of a scheme to ensure the Met treats all races fairly.
From now on, any officer who stops someone on the street must fill in a form with the person's race and the reason for the stop.
The document, unveiled today, is a foot long and includes 40 questions to answer, blanks to fill in and boxes to tick.
Officers say it will take seven minutes to complete for each individual stopped.
Scotland Yard and community leaders insist the scheme will help to ensure that ethnic minorities are not singled out for undue attention.
Incoming Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair says it will give Londoners-"an even greater level of trust" in the force.
But officers believe the forms will waste time and be resented by the public. Some have vowed to boycott the scheme.
The Met Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, said: "Completion of the form uses up valuable officer time. Ways must be found to streamline the procedure."
And shadow home secretary David Davis has vowed that a Tory government will scrap the scheme on its first day in office.
The "stop and account" forms were a key recommendation of the Macpherson report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, which branded the Met institutionally racist.
Everyone stopped on the street will be asked their name, address and what race they consider themselves. Answers will be noted on the form and the officer will record the reason for the stop.
The form will be handed to the person as a "receipt" while a carbon copy will go to police statisticians.
John Roberts, an independent member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, said the scheme will make the Met "open, accountable and transparent".
He said: "I'm baffled as to why people feel this is a political correctness exercise, or that it takes
ages. When an officer is filling out a form, that's an opportunity for conversation about what issues are affecting the local community."
But Mr Davis said: "Under Labour, the police are tied up in more red tape than ever. On the first day of a Conservative government we would announce plans to prevent police officers having to fill in a form every time they stop someone."
And Bob Neill, Tory leader on the London Assembly, said: "If an officer stops a group of five people, they'll spend more than 35 minutes filling in forms. That's 35 minutes less time patrolling London's streets."
A pilot scheme in Hackney proved a disaster, with officers failing to fill out the form in 55 per cent of stops. Many people gave false names and addresses.
Some black people were offended at being asked their race, while one in three people stopped refused to take the receipt.
Scotland Yard had to delay the introduction of the scheme by two months while it trained officers to complete the forms correctly.
In the pilot, some officers admitted the forms had made them think twice before stopping people.
Police records already show that black Londoners are six times more likely to be searched than their white counterparts.
Until now, no data has been kept on the race of people who are only stopped, not searched.
