Met Police Misconduct in Croydon: Black Boy Wrongly Searched

On June 23, 2022, in Croydon, two Metropolitan Police officers stopped and restrained a 14-year-old Black boy, De-Shaun Joseph, during a stop and search related to a street robbery. The officers, part of the Violent Crime Taskforce, received a report of a robbery involving four Black boys. De-Shaun, who was alone and wearing a hoodie, was handcuffed and searched on the ground for several minutes, despite being visibly upset and in school uniform. The incident was captured on video and sparked public outrage. An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) concluded that the officers' actions constituted misconduct. They failed to consider the boy's age and the necessity of using handcuffs, which were applied for longer than required after nothing was found. The IOPC highlighted the officers' lack of reasonable adjustments for the child and noted that bystanders expressed concern about the use of force. The disciplinary panel found that one officer, PC Morgan, had breached integrity standards by demanding the boy's details without authority and threatening to contact his school. The other officer, PC Clewes, was found to have acted disrespectfully towards De-Shaun's mother. As a result, PC Clewes received a final written warning, while PC Morgan, having resigned, could not be sanctioned. De-Shaun's mother is advocating for the De-Shaun Joseph Justice Bill to promote a child-centered approach to stop and search practices, aiming to prevent similar incidents in the future.