Yearly Archives: 2012
Lloyd Butler custody death: Misconduct hearing call
Relatives of a man who died in custody have called for the officer who dealt with him to face misconduct charges. Lloyd Butler, 39, from Birmingham, died after being arrested when his family called police because he was drunk.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigated his death, in 2010, but have not made their report public.
Law firm Irwin Mitchell backed Mr Butler’s family, saying the IPCC report shows he was given “unacceptable” care.
Mr Butler died within hours of being put in a cell in Stechford police station, at 1215 BST on 4 August. Officers checked on him at 1515 BST and then started first aid. He was taken to hospital but declared dead. Police referred the death at Stechford police station to the IPCC, who began investigating on 5 August.
Protesters call to replace IPCC
Protesters have called for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to be replaced with a new body. They demonstrated outside the central London office of the IPCC, which they claim is dominated by former police officers.
Campaign4Justice claims the IPCC failed to deal with their cases fairly. The IPCC accepted “the current system does not always meet the needs of the public”.
Commons Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz has said they will hold an inquiry into the powers and future of the police watchdog.
Campaigners say a third of the watchdog’s investigators are former police officers, and therefore “there is no independence in it”.
Cops pledge CCTV in police vans after campaign
London’s Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe has announced his intention to install CCTV cameras in all police cars and vans.
This has been a demand of the families of those who have died in police custody for many years.
Hogan-Howe told the LBC radio station, “If we misbehave it will capture it, but, equally, for the people who misbehave or make false allegations, it will capture it.” But he added, “We have got to have a conversation with our staff because they may feel threatened by that.”
A number of custody deaths are believed to have taken place in police vehicles. And campaigners believe the cameras will help provide evidence in future cases. One such death was Sean Rigg at Brixton police station in 2008.
Scandalous police misbehaviour is nothing new
The sickening racism that appears to have been directed at a young black man arrested by police in London, recorded on his mobile phone and published by the Guardian days ago should have rocked the British media.
Yet, apart from the latter paper’s transient webpage headline and some powerful commentary online, few major news sources in this country seem to have addressed the revelations – or, more importantly, the burning issues they evoke – with particular energy.
This is scandalous in itself. Why shouldn’t a story that reveals a police officer was recorded admitting – or rather “boasting” – that he strangled a young black man because he was a “cunt” and later tells him he’ll “always be a nigger”, be worthy of widespread report – or more appropriately, widespread outrage?
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