UK Police

The treatment of people in police custody has come under intense scrutiny since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis – and not just in the US. More than 1740 people have died in custody or following police contact in England & Wales since 1990 – with recent figures showing Black people twice as likely to die than white people. Questions have also been raised about how accountable the police are for deaths of people under their watch. There has been no successful murder or manslaughter prosecution against a police officer. Here, we speak to civil liberties lawyer Leslie Thomas and political scientist Dr Floyd Millen.

Sadiq Khan also spoke out over the attack on Met officers who had stopped to help an apparent assault victim.

Graphic video last week showed two police officers shoving Martin Gugino to the ground during a protest in Buffalo, New York.

Protesters booed mayor Jacob Frey and told him to leave the protest after he said he supported police reform but not abolishing the department altogether.

Rashan Charles’s death was avoidable and in the absence of effective action by those governing our police services, more avoidable deaths in the UK will occur, Rod Charles writes.

Roxie Washington, the mother of Geroge Floyd's 6-year-old daughter Gianna Floyd, spoke publicly after days of protests following his death. Washington spoke with her daughter by her side and came after George’s brother appealing for calm in Minneapolis. Protests have swept US cities since the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died after a white policeman pinned his neck under a knee for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis.