Met apologizes to Black leader detained by troublesome officer
3 Min Read
Jason Matthews experienced excessive force during an incident where Officer Connor Jones twisted his arm, broke his phone, and falsely accused him of being violent.
-
Armed police officers stand guard outside the Houses of Parliament in London, on September 25, 2023. (AP)
The Metropolitan Police Department has apologized to a Black man who was held by an officer who has faced three misconduct charges for excessive force in the last two years.
Jason Matthews, 54, a well-known community leader, was held and searched by PC Connor Jones while attending the Hackney Carnival in 2019.
Matthews claims Jones used excessive force on him, twisting his arm, smashing his phone, and shoving him to the ground, and that he was unfairly jailed and falsely accused of being violent.
In a letter to Matthews, the Met apologized "for the distress" he had experienced as a result of its officer's actions.
Jones has faced three misconduct charges since 2023 and was given some reflection practice during his disciplinary meeting on May 18, 2023, in response to Matthews' allegations. He was subsequently issued a written warning following a misconduct meeting on July 24, 2023, and a final written notice following a misconduct hearing on September 20, 2024.
Officer Jones was found guilty of gross misconduct for putting a taser to the neck of 16-year-old Jamar Powell, with his defense dismissed as unreliable. Powell's complaint came after Jones had already been placed on restricted duty for a previous misconduct case.
Community leader Matthews expressed frustration with the Met's handling of multiple allegations against Jones, questioning the force's commitment to accountability, especially as it took three years for Jones to face a disciplinary hearing.
He questioned why the officer was still working and "what message does that send to our community about how much you care? "
Matthew feels the delays in documenting and resolving complaints across all three disciplinary processes were engineered to increase Jones' chances of keeping his job.
London police riven with institutional 'racism, misogyny'
London's Metropolitan Police Service, the biggest police force in Britain, is riddled with deep-seated racism and misogyny, according to a report by Louise Casey last year. The review noted that London police have lost the public's confidence, stressing that it must "change itself" or risk being broken up.
An expert on victims' rights and social welfare who led the review, Louise Casey, said, "It is not our job as the public to keep ourselves safe from the police. It is the police's job to keep us safe as the public."
"Far too many Londoners have now lost faith in policing to do that," she added.
The findings came 24 years after another inquiry found that institutional racism was a key factor in why the Met failed to investigate the murder of Black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
The study was commissioned after a serving officer raped and killed a young marketing executive in March 2021, Sarah Everard, sparking a national outcry. A series of scandals that have recently hit the Metropolitan Police included the mentioned case.
Widespread bullying and discrimination in the department were also reported in the review, stressing that "female officers and staff routinely face sexism and misogyny."
Casey revealed that the Met had allowed officers to remain on the job even after they were accused of domestic abuse or racial harassment, according to a preliminary report released in October.
