A trial of the controversial police spit hoods, which came to national attention after one was used on an innocent man during an arrest last year, has been extended across the whole of London, Scotland Yard has said.
Officers said an initial smaller pilot in the north-east of the capital had been successful but was too limited.
The police watchdog is investigating British Transport Police’s use of a spit hood on Ik Aihie, who was arrested in London Bridge station in July 2016. He was filmed screaming as he was held down by officers, who put the hood over his head. Aihie said he had been left “bruised and shaken” and a witness said he had been treated “like a dog”.
He was never charged with anything and a caution issued to him was later revoked.
Use of the hoods has been claimed to breach a suspect’s rights. The Met argues they offer reasonable protection to officers against people trying to spit at and bite them.
The force plans to extend the use of the hoods to all custody suites in the capital, though their use was restricted on the streets from the outset. It said it had “discussed these plans with partner organisations, community representatives and independent groups, as well as magistrates”.
On Thursday, the force said the initial trial had suggested that the spit guards were an “effective, proportionate and necessary piece of equipment when deployed correctly and with appropriate supervision”. It said the mayor of London had agreed to the extension.
“The Met has a duty of care to its officers and staff – the issue of spitting and biting is a real problem and a particularly unpleasant form of assault which rightly generates a lot of concern amongst officers. Aside from the fact that as an employer the Met cannot expect its staff to be spat at, or think this is acceptable, some of the follow-up treatment required after such an assault can be prolonged and unpleasant.
“Over a number of years, the Met has been looking at potential ways of minimising the threat this issue poses to officers and staff. One of the options that has been considered is spit guards. Spit guards are a nationally approved piece of police personal safety equipment and are already used by 22 forces across the UK.”
Martha Spurrier, Director of Liberty, called the hoods “primitive, cruel and dangerous.” She went on: “There have been far too many cases of their use against children and disabled adults, causing huge fear, humiliation and even suffocation – which makes it all the more disturbing to see the Met quietly roll this extreme measure out across our city, with no public debate and no published evaluation. If the pilot was ‘successful’, why can’t we see the evidence?”
