Witnesses sought following stop and search in north west London

19 Dec 2018 02:25 PM

Investigators from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) would like to hear from anyone who witnessed a man being restrained during a stop and search in Harlesden, north west London.

The man was stopped by police outside the New Atlas Café, Craven Park Road on Thursday 4 October at about 3pm.

During the incident the man was then restrained by a number of Metropolitan Police officers, one of whom deployed CS Spray.

The IOPC requested a referral be made by the Metropolitan Police after the incident attracted attention in the national media following publication of a video on social media and an independent investigation was launched on 15 November.

We have recovered CCTV, Body Worn Video footage, the footage shared online and received statements from officers.

We have a statement from the man who was arrested and have subsequently interviewed him about the incident.

IOPC Regional Director Jonathan Green yesterday said,

“This incident took place in public view during the day and was witnessed by a number of people. The video has since been shared on a number of social media platforms and used by national media outlets.

“To uphold public confidence in the police complaints system we will be investigating the use of stop and search tactics in this incident and whether the actions of those officers were appropriate and proportionate and followed approved police policies.”

We are talking to a number of people about this incident and have placed witness appealboards at the scene this week. Can you help? Call 0800 029 4691 or email cravenparkrd@policeconduct.gov.uk