Brixton Riots: 30 years on

2011-04-10 07:03:06

10 April 2011 Last updated at 01:17 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Brixton riots 30 years on: What has changed? By Ed Davey BBC News, London

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An MPA meeting was disrupted by friends of singer Smiley Culture

And she thinks rising numbers of black officers have made a huge difference.

She said: "That means the organisation is changing from within, as well as from outside."

But Ms Butts had strong words over the death of Smiley Culture.

She said: "The way the incident was handled was very frustrating. The Met needs to be careful it's not resting on its laurels.

"I know there is an IPCC investigation - but there was just not enough engagement."

The Met says it is doing all it can to keep the community informed about the investigation.

So what was the behaviour of the police like in the run-up to the riots?

Peter Bleksley, a young Met officer at the time, does not mince his words.

He told BBC Radio 4's The Reunion: "Young black men in Brixton were routinely fitted up, beaten up, tortured and worse.

"I was turned from a pretty decent 18-year-old into a violent, racist thug."

Mr Bleksley said black suspects were often physically hurt in the interview room until they admitted to crimes.

'Absolutely terrifying'

It is an approach Clovis Reid, who lived through the riots, remembers only too well.

The 61-year-old, now working as a school liaison officer, said: "Brixton was a pressure cooker waiting to explode.

"When it kicked off the police went totally overboard.

"It was absolutely terrifying. But I intensely believe the community made their point."

Three decades on, Mr Reid says the Met have improved markedly - but have a way to go.

He said: "There is much better liaison compared to 30 years ago. But they need to interact even more.

Buildings and cars were burned, police pelted with pavement slabs

"Long before things got bad in Brixton we and the police respected each other - I knew my local bobby by name.

"There needs to be more of that."

Met boss in south-east London, Commander David Zinzan, insists community policing is already a reality.

He said: "Safer Neighbourhoods teams are the bedrock. They are the jewel in the crown.

"Across the whole of the Met we have made enormous improvements.

"I am not saying we're perfect - but we are always up for listening to the communities we serve."

He added: "Note the word 'serve' - we are there to serve communities, not do things to them."

Commander Zinzan admits the force could do better in applying public feedback to operational practice.

He said: "We could get better - it's a large organisation and it could be more nimble."

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

I strongly disliked the police - until I realised how much they had changed, and I had changed”

End Quote Cindy Butts MPA board member

But he points to rising numbers of black officers as proof of progress.

In the borough of Lambeth, home to Brixton, there are 114 serving ethnic minority officers compared to nine in 1981.

Ms Butts was nine years old at the time of the riots and their impact coloured her perception of the police for years.

She said: "I remember it perfectly, people were talking about it.

"I was already aware of the way police treated the black community.

"I was brought up to know it was my responsibility to watch interaction an between police and a black person - so I could be a pair of eyes and recount what happened as a witness."

Ms Butts added: "I strongly disliked the police - until I realised how much they had changed, and I had changed."

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