TODAY, London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced a range of new measures to improve police accountability.

Under one of the new initiatives, current monitoring schemes will be overhauled and community groups should find it easier to hold the police accountable in a new framework that will be drawn up by September.

A key test of the initiative will be whether learnings from the group are acted on by the police.

At The Voice‘s policing event, campaigners pointed out that Independent Office for Police Complaints (IOPC) investigations seldom end up in police officer prosecutions.

Stop and search, taser and police use of force are key areas that will be scrutinised. However, newly formed community groups will also review and raise concerns with the Met about the work of the Violent Crime Taskforce, the Territorial Support Group and the Roads and Transport Policing Command.

The approach is part of the mayor’s policing action plan, which was announced in November last year to address the black community’s concerns following worldwide Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd’s tragic death.

It comes as the Metropolitan police force is under greater scrutiny than ever as the controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has passed its second reading in the House of Commons – despite protests and critique of how the force handled a vigil in memory of Sarah Everard – a 33-year-old whose remains were found in Kent.

In an open letter published by The Voice, social justice groups also pointed out that the bill will affect non-white groups disproportionately.

Further plans

Another measure that launches today is a dashboard on the City Hall website, where information about disproportionate policing will be clearly available.

Members of the public will be able to access data on police use of force and stop and search, as well as information from the Public Attitudes Survey.

In other developments, former Metropolitan police commanders are working on a new pilot project that looks at how police engage with communities. It will run in Haringey and Enfield, and the force hopes that from the project – a new blueprint for how basic command units work with members of the public.

The mayor has also published an action plan to address disproportionality in the youth justice system. It comes as recent data revealed that the proportion of black and minority ethnic children in Young Offender Institutions across England and Wales reached 51% in 2019.

London mayor, Sadiq Khan said: “It is clear after listening to black Londoners and community organisations that more needs to be done to address their concerns about the disproportionate use of some police tactics.

“That means overhauling the existing monitoring structures to make them more reflective of our diverse city and giving communities a much more focused role in properly scrutinising a much wider range of police powers.

“It is crucial that our communities feel they are properly listened to and concerns about the disproportionate use of police powers acted upon if we are to improve the trust and confidence among all Londoners.”