Police in England and Wales will face a review into whether officers racially discriminate against ethnic minorities in their use of force and stop and search.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IPOC) is launching a probe into possible racial bias amid tensions over a series of recent high-profile cases.
On Wednesday the Met Police apologised to Team GB athlete Bianca Williams for the “distress” caused by a stop and search which she claims was a result of racial profiling.
The police watchdog said it will use its formal powers to investigate cases to see if there is any pattern of racial discrimination.
It has vowed it can “drive real change in policing practice”.
IOPC director general Michael Lockwood said a review in the coming months will focus on race discrimination “to establish the trends and patterns which might help drive real change in policing practice”.
He said: “Evidence of disproportionality in the use of police powers has long been a concern which impacts on confidence in policing, particularly in the BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities.
“But even with the numbers and the statistics, particularly from stop and search data, we still need to better understand the causes and what can and should be done to address this.
Lockwood added: “Initially we will focus on investigating more cases where there is an indication that disproportionality impacts the BAME community, including stop and search and use of force.
“We will also be investigating more cases where victims from BAME communities have felt unfairly treated by the police.”
It comes after the force’s commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, apologised to Williams - who claimed officers racially profiled her and her partner Ricardo dos Santos – a Black Portuguese 400-metre runner – when they were handcuffed and separated from their three-month-old son.
A video of the incident, which saw the couple pulled from their car in a London street, was posted online by former Olympic medallist Linford Christie.
Nothing was found in the search, which the Met said was carried out by officers patrolling the area in response to an increase in violence involving weapons.
Williams has said she is considering legal action against the Met.
“[The officers] said there’s a lot of youth violence and stabbings in the area and that the car looked very suspicious,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“They see a Black male driving a nice car, an all-black car, and they assume that he was involved in some sort of gang, drug, violence problem.
“This isn’t the first or fourth or fifth time – it must be about the 10th [time her partner has been stopped by police], it’s getting ridiculous.”
Dame Cressida said although two reviews of the incident had found there was no apparent misconduct, it had been referred to the Independent IOPC because of “the level of public concern”.