The Metropolitan Police have U-turned on their decision to ditch plans not to record the ethnicity of drivers during traffic stops.
Gathering the data was part of a pilot which ran for one week a month from January to June 2021, following the publication of the Mayor’s Action Plan on Transparency, Accountability and Trust in Policing.
The Met was asked to review samples of vehicle stops in order to identify any disproportionality relating to ethnicity.
However, feedback from officers stated that they “could not see” who was in the vehicle until they had stopped, and that the two minutes it took to note the details was “time-consuming.”
While data analysed during the pilot showed white drivers were slightly less likely to be stopped for a road traffic offence, the report concluded that the differences were “minimal” and the recording of ethnicities would not continue.
However, the Met has now said it will be working with the National Race Action plan team on the "commitment to record ethnicity of traffic stops”.
A spokesperson for the Met said: “We understand community concerns about road traffic stops and part of answering those concerns is to look at the data.
“The Mayor’s Action Plan on Accountability and Trust in Policing asked the Metropolitan Police to run a pilot to record the ethnic background of drivers stopped by police under s163 Road Traffic Act.
“The MPS is aware that other forces are exploring similar pilots, and will consider any outputs from those pilots.
“As we said in the June 2022 report, the National Police Chief’s Council and College of Policing race Action Plan calls for all forces to record the ethnicity of those involved in traffic stops.
“The Met is now actively working with the National Race Action plan team on the commitment to record ethnicity of traffic stops.”
Former officers and campaigners slammed the plan to ditch ethnicity recording, calling it “rock bottom”.
It came after the new Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley vowed to “root out racism”, and a month after Chris Kaba was shot dead by police while sitting unarmed in his car.
Former Director of Policing for London and Chair Alliance of Police Accountability Lee Jasper had called for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to intervene.
He said: “The Mayor of London was right to demand that the Met traffic stops be monitored for racism.
“The Met monitored these stops for a week in a single borough and, having found 'no racism', decided to end the project.
“London's Black communities do not recognise or accept these figures. In light of the Chris Kaba killing, this decision is potentially incendiary.
“We call on the Mayor of London and the National Police Chiefs Council to intervene immediately and demand the Met racially monitor all traffic stops London-wide”
The Met has been marred with scandals which saw them placed under special measures.
Former Met police superintendent Leroy Logan said: “If they think this will help trust and confidence they’re sadly mistaken.
“The Met should be bending over backwards to reassure people that there is no racial disparities in any of their powers.
“So for them to now say it's not worth it they definitely need to look at the wider impact of their words because again it reinforces the perception that the Met has got something to hide. They're not acknowledging the race problem.”
The former top cop added that the data did not include seasonal trends and that the scope needed to be widened.
He said: “You can analyse data to give you the answers you want. I think it should have been a year's pilot, to get proper seasonal trends. They could extend it another six months but do it every week
“There needs to be a widening of the scope and duration so that we are assured these figures are fit for purpose.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor takes the issue of disproportionality and any allegation of racial profiling extremely seriously and is focused on working with the new Met Commissioner to urgently rebuild public confidence and trust in the Met.
"This means doing more to address community concerns about disproportionality in the use of certain police powers affecting Black Londoners as part of the Mayor’s Action Plan.
“The landmark Road Traffic Stop pilot requested by the Mayor is a key part of this action to identify and tackle all disproportionality in the use of police powers in London.
"Whilst this pilot did not identify any racial bias, this important piece of work around transparency and greater accountability has led to the NPCC and College of Policing’s Race Action Plan supporting a new national approach for the recording, analysis, supervision and scrutiny of police powers.
“This will enable them to identify and take actions to eliminate racial disparities at force and individual levels for all road traffic stops and the Met is now actively working with the national Race Action Plan team as part of this new national approach to record traffic stops.”
