to record their actions, the force said as it sought Thursday to
calm tensions over the inquest into the fatal shooting of a man
by firearms officers.
Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe was due to meet
with community leaders to discuss Wednesday's inquest
verdict that the 2011 killing of suspected gangster Mark
Duggan was lawful.
Duggan's family reacted with fury to the verdict and vowed to
continue fighting for justice for the father of six, whose death
sparked nights of rioting across English cities.
Hogan-Howe welcomed the inquest jury's decision but
acknowledged the shooting had led to a "significant reduction
in trust between London's black communities" and police.
Efforts had been made to improve relations, he said, for
example by reforming the use of stop and search so it no
longer disproportionately targeted men from ethnic minorities.
"But we need to do more, much more, to improve our
relationships with black Londoners," he said.
He added: "We'll begin a trial this year in which firearms
officers are issued with body-worn video cameras to record
the actions of officers and those they are dealing with.
"We want to see if this is an effective way to record evidence
and ensure public confidence."
Police are braced for protests in Tottenham, the deprived area
of north London where Duggan was shot, but a demonstration
late Wednesday dispersed without any trouble.
Supporters had reacted angrily to the inquest verdict after the
jury concluded Duggan had had a gun when police stopped
the taxi he was travelling in but threw it out of the vehicle
seconds before he was gunned down by a police marksman.
The coroner in the inquest accepted that the jury was faced
with a "stark problem" because police officers' notes
contradicted video evidence from the scene about the location
of the gun.
Duggan's brother shouted obscenities at jurors as they left
court while other supporters screamed "murderers".
In highly-charged scenes outside the court, Duggan's aunt,
Carole, said he had been "executed" and vowed to fight the
verdict, but on Thursday she called for calm.
"This has got to be dealt with the right way, through the
courts," she told BBC radio, saying the family wanted to see
"no more demonstrations, no more violence".
"We will have to fight this, go through the struggle
peacefully, through the right channels, to get justice," she
said.
Police believe Duggan was a member of one of Europe's most
dangerous gangs, but he had never been convicted of a major
offence
Via: Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment