Police Brutality

Police brutality in the United Kingdom has involved the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by police officers. Forms of police brutality have ranged from assault and battery (e.g., beatings) to mayhem, torture, and murder. Some broader examples of police brutality also encompass harassment (including false arrest), intimidation, and verbal abuse, among other forms of mistreatment.

Studies carried out showed that the UK’s largest police force deployed methods ranging from handcuffing to use of stun guns, CS spray, batons and guns 41,329 times in April to August 2019 – 270 times a day on average. That compares with 23,118 in the corresponding period the previous year – a 79% rise – and 62,153 in the whole of 2017-18.

Police brutality in recent years has given rise to the Black Lives Matter Movement. They are a movement who affirm the lives of Black queer and trans, disabled, undocumented, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. 

 Since the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement, other protesters and activist groups have focused public attention on the disproportionate use of force against Black people within the United Kingdom.

Due to the constant police brutality that Black people are faced with, many black parents are taking it upon themselves to have “the talk" with their children - a conversation about how to interact with police to avoid being harmed.

The Black Lives Matter group along with other protesters and activist groups continue to fight for the struggle for social justice and for Black people to gain equal rights under the law, due to the prejudice and police brutality that Black people are continuously faced with.