Imagine you’re taking part in a charity bike ride with your 13-year-old son, only to be grabbed by police, handcuffed and threatened with a stun gun.
I can.
It isn’t just the details of what happened to innocent Andrew Boateng and his boy Huugo earlier this month that are so disturbing.
It is the fact that it could so easily have been me. Me and my son of the same age heading out on our bikes along the River Lea in North London, not far from where I live. My son suffering lacerations to his face and bruising to his legs as Huugo did.
The terrified 13-year-old said: “I’d turned around to see if my dad had caught up behind me – suddenly this man came out of nowhere, crazy, angry and shouting.
“I got scared because I thought he might be mugging me but there was nowhere to go but in the bushes.”
Andrew added: “It happened so fast. I shouted: ‘Stop! That’s my son, he’s only 13!’ over and over again. When I saw them put handcuffs on him I couldn’t believe it.
“The officers came at us with high-octane aggression. It was extremely unnecessary.”
While on the ground, Huugo says the officer pointed a Taser at him and threatened to shoot, even though he was not resisting being handcuffed.
Dad Andrew, hearing his son being read his rights, was told to get on his knees with his hands behind his back before he too was handcuffed.
Fortunately for the Boatengs, photographer Louise Paton captured the incident on film.
The officers claimed they both matched the description of the assailants from a stabbing in a nearby park. But here’s the thing.
When questioned by Paton on camera, one officer said: “The victim was very unwilling to give us descriptions. The only thing he has given us is IC3 [police code for a black person] males on a bike… That’s very vague, isn’t it?”
Indeed it is. The police have since apologised but it highlights the racial profiling which undermines the good relationships that forces across the country work so hard to foster.
By the way, Andrew works at City University. He coaches a youth football team and volunteers for an outreach programme co-run by a black Met Police officer.
Huugo? Well, he’s just a kid.
With an experienced police officer in my own family, I appreciate the need for swift, decisive action to protect the public.
I also see first-hand the anxieties of an officer’s family when they head out for their shift on our increasingly lawless streets.
On the other hand, I know too the frustration of being stopped, searched and embarrassed by police – Andrew and his son were shamed in front of passing joggers – on the basis that my only connection to someone that has done something wrong is my skin colour.
Andrew has had a visit from two community officers but, unsurprisingly, wasn’t too keen to accommodate them. Would you be?
Borough Commander Treena Fleming said: “We are keen to maximise any learning that comes from this.”
We are all on a journey of greater understanding during this momentous period. It’ll be tough to get there, however, if people are still being humiliated along the way.
