BAME officers subjected to abuse

BLACK and ethnic minority police were removed from the front line of the Black Lives Matter protests after aggressive abuse was directed at them, a senior police officer has said.

Sir Stephen House, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, told the London Assembly that BAME officers were singled out for abuse during the protests, which were triggered by the death of George Floyd in the US.

Sir Stephen told the assembly’s police and crime committee: “Very sadly, our black and minority colleagues were the target of particular abuse. One might expect that from the Right wing … I wouldn’t have expected it from the demonstrators in Black Lives Matter but it was a fact.”

There has been growing concern over violence shown towards front-line staff, with assaults on officers having risen by a quarter in the four weeks to June 7, compared with last year.