Police are routinely discriminating against black people in stop and search operations in London as part of a misguided performance culture, Scotland Yard’s new head of diversity has warned.
Victor Olisa said it was accepted practice to stop young black men to try and boost arrest rates for drugs such as cannabis – while officers turned a blind eye to white men who may be carrying cocaine.
The chief superintendent said the discrimination was unwitting and driven by performance rather than racism but had led to a negative stereotyping of black people.
Ch Supt Olisa, one of Scotland Yard’s most senior black officers, said police were more likely to stop a car with young black men on the chance of finding drugs than stop a car full of white men in suits, though they could also be in possession of cocaine.
He said if drugs were found then the officer would repeat the same process to get results adding: "You end up building a process and a stereotype. The cop on the ground is just doing it because of what he or she thinks is right, they are not doing it because they are racist.
"But when you look at the accumulated data you see massive disproportionality. I think that’s where we get lost."
He said officers should continue to carry out stop and search based on intelligence, saying: "You need to be able to explain as an individual why you stopped Joe Bloggs."
Mr Olisa, 57, who was the first black person to join Surrey police in 1982, said police discrimination based on stereotypes was much stronger when he joined, but it still existed.
He said he had experienced racism in the police "some in subtle guises and other more overt, such as being called the N word by people in the street."
Speaking to the Standard he said the current ‘fairness at work’ and disciplinary records showed the system was skewed against ethnic minority staff, meaning "if you are BME you are less likely to get through the process."
Last week a report found that officers and staff in the Met expected to be victimised and their careers to suffer if they complained about racism.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission launched the study after former firearms officer Carol Howard was awarded £37,000 after being hounded by her boss for being a black woman.
Mr Olisa said part of the answer was to treat people fairly and with respect and with better communication.
"People are sometimes afraid of being labelled as racist. If we start thinking ‘Oh my God I am talking to a black person I had better be careful what I say’ we get ourselves into a real mess. Managers become defensive, people feel excluded.
"Let’s look at the qualities, the experience that people bring and concentrate on those and treat people fairly then issues about race become secondary."
He also believes the Met has to convince ethnic minority communities that policing is a good job - but not ask them to be role models.
He said: "We should say it’s a good job, but we don’t want you to join to be a hero, to be a role model.
"All those things are a burden. If I was a young black man and wanted to be a police officer, I don’t want to be a role model. Why do we do this, just be a good cop and enjoy the salary. Let’s not burden people."
The former Haringey borough commander, who appeared in the BBC documentary series The Met, described the challenge of policing the borough in the aftermath of the 2011 riots.
"It was hellishly difficult," he said.
He also revealed just how London came close to a second round of mass rioting following the inquest verdict into the shooting of Mark Duggan.
Duggan, a 29-year-old gangster, was shot dead by a police marksman in Tottenham in 2011 in an incident that sparked unrest across the UK.
Ch Supt Olisa said tensions were running "incredibly high" after an inquest jury returned a lawful killing verdict in January 2014 - when the family expected an unlawful killing ruling.
He said "When the verdict came and it was lawful killing my initial thought was that there would be another riot because the family had no-where to go.
"I thought there would be a riot because there was so much anger, not necessarily from the family, but from everyone else. The tension was incredible. "
The danger subsided because police had better relations with the community and some were prepared to stand up and say "give the police a chance."
However, he backed the Met over the shooting saying the police operation was targeted towards removing a gun from the street.
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