AN EAST London mother has expressed her shock and anger after armed Metropolitan Police officers knocked her 13 year old son off his bike and pointed their firearms at him after wrongly suspecting that the toy gun he was playing with was a real weapon.

The teenager, referred to as Child X, and his younger sibling were innocently playing with their plastic toy water guns in the streets near their east London home.

A uniformed Met officer who happened to be in the local area at the time saw them playing and reported what he believed to be a potential firearms incident, even though the plastic water guns were unmistakably toys, one blue and white in colour, the other pink and white. As a result, two firearms units – from the Met and City of London Police – were deployed to the scene.   

A police van rammed Child X off his bicycle, knocking him to the ground.  He was surrounded by armed police officers who pointed their firearms at him and arrested him on suspicion of being in possession of a firearm.   He was de-arrested at the scene soon afterwards, once his mother had arrived and challenged what was happening.

She says that she too was treated with contempt by the officers when she sought an explanation about their conduct from them. 

In a statement given to The Voice Child X’s mother said: “I feel very angry about the way in which my 13-year-old son was treated by the police. It has been a deeply traumatic experience for him, for me, and for our family as a whole.

“The attitude of the police to him – and to me – is shown up in the words of the senior officer at the scene when I protested to him about the conduct of his officers: he told me I was lucky that they had not arrested my son! For what?

“For playing with a brightly coloured plastic water gun with his younger sibling on the streets behind our home? For being a black boy on the streets of Hackney? I know – and the police know – that they would not have treated my son in the way they did if he had been a White 13 year old boy.”

She continued: “How do I help them cope with the fact that the police present at the scene seemed unable or unwilling to apologise, explain or answer for what they had done? And after what has happened, how can I ever tell them that they can turn to the police for help? I feel broken by it all; distraught because I was not able to protect my child from what happened.

“I feel let down and betrayed, not only by the police. The whole system is supposed to look after our children, black or white: they deserve better.”

The MPS Directorate of Professional Standards has since confirmed that they are investigating Child X’s mother’s complaint about the incident, after the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) refused to conduct an independent investigation.

The City and Hackney Safeguarding Children Partnership has confirmed that they intend to undertake a Rapid Review of the incident.

However campaigners say they are disappointed by the IOPC’s refusal to investigate the incident and want the police watchdog to review its decision.

They are also calling for the police officers who were involved in the incident to be disciplined and for a review of procedures following Child X’s violent arrest.

Today (October 19) a number of Black community organisations including the Alliance for Police Accountability, Father2Father and the Black Equity Organisation will join hold a press conference where they are expected to reiterate calls for disciplinary action and a thorough investigation into the incident.

Lee Jasper, Chair of the Alliance for Police Accountability  told The Voice: “We want the IOPC to take the case back from the Met and have it be properly investigated. We also want to ensure that the police officers involved face disciplinary charges because we think there’s a case to answer.

“There also needs to be a strategic framework in place that lays out what the police will and will not do when they’re dealing with children under the age of 18.

“We are seeing rising numbers of Black children subject to violent arrests. We have sent the Met police a Freedom of Information request  about armed interactions with Black children but apparently it’s not something they monitor which I find shocking but not surprising.

Jasper continued: “Not only does this need to change but local authority safeguarding policies must take into account the fact that systemic racism in policing means that Black kids are disproportionately focused on which leads to trauma in the community. It should be the case families get the kind of trauma-informed support and counselling they need after interactions with the police. We need a systemic response to the systemic racism that we are seeing.”

The case follows the widespread anger that followed the case of Child Q, a Black teenage girl who was wrongly accused of possessing cannabis and was searched while on her period and with no appropriate adult present at a school in Hackney, east London. No drugs were found on her clothing or in her bag before two female officers searched her as two male officers waited outside.

The cases Child X and Child Q once again highlight growing concerns around  ‘adultification’ where Black children are perceived as older, less innocent, and potentially more physically threatening than their White peers and are less likely to be given the benefit of the doubt by those in authority.

It can have grave consequences, leading to discrimination and violence.

Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, in charge of policing for Hackney and Tower Hamlets, told The Voice: “This incident was understandably extremely distressing for the boy involved as well as the rest of his family.

“We know it may cause public concern and we want to help the public understand why we responded in the way we did. This does not in any way detract from our recognition of the trauma caused to the boy, for which I apologised soon afterwards to his family.

“At around 15:45hrs on Wednesday, 19 July, an unarmed officer in the area in question saw a male on a bicycle pointing what was believed to be a handgun at a young girl.

DCS Conway continued: “Officers from the Met’s specialist firearms command were called to the scene and found a boy matching the officer’s description riding on an electric pedal cycle nearby.

“Specialist officers are trained on specific tactics including using vehicles to bring cyclists to a stop. This tactic was used in this case, causing the boy to fall off his bike.

“Firearms officers left the car and he was handcuffed and detained. It quickly became clear that he was not in possession of a firearm. He was de-arrested at the scene. In subsequent enquiries, his family confirmed he had earlier been playing with a toy water gun.

“Our officers are dealing with fast moving situations, based on the limited information provided to them at the time. Such is the nature of the threat from firearms that the College of Policing is clear that officers should treat all firearms as real and loaded until proven otherwise. The police have a positive legal obligation under human rights legislation to protect life, which shapes our approach to responding to suspected firearms.

“As would be expected, the actions of the officers involved were reviewed by the Met’s professional standards unit and the Independent Office for Police Conduct. No misconduct has been identified. A public complaint has also been made and this is being assessed.

He went on: “Since the incident occurred, I have met with the boy’s family to explain the reasons behind our actions. This included showing them the relevant body worn video from the officers involved. I listened to their concerns and I understand how upsetting this has been for them.

“Conscious of the impact of this incident, support has been made available to the boy and his family through our partners. We have also agreed to a review of the safeguarding support offered, led by our independently chaired Safeguarding Children Partnership, in order to learn any lessons from the incident.

“I am sorry for the trauma caused to the child and I am happy to meet with the family again if they feel that would help.”