‘Legalitees’: The brand educating communities on stop and search rights

A fashion brand has teamed up with South London organisations to launch a series of t-shirts with stop and search rights printed on them.

They are calling for better education around rights for black and ethnic minority communities. 

Legalitees launched online on Sunday and is in talks with “several Brixton retailers” about stocking the shirts. 

The brand aims to empower people during stop-and-search encounters by equipping them with their legal rights after their research found a lack of awareness around the policy.

Simplified versions of stop and search rights are printed on each shirt upside for the wearer to read easily.

The t-shirt series includes designs by four different artists including Ishmael Lartey, Sam Lawson, Danna Michelly Quiñones Rodriguez and Kells Hayward.

The Legalitees initiative was created in a partnership between Hijinks – a collective of creatives – and Lambeth and Southwark-based community organisation, Centric, to highlight issues caused by stop and search.

According to government data, black people are four times more likely to be stopped and searched than their white counterparts, and mixed-race people are nearly twice as likely to be stopped as white people.

Recent research by UK race equality think tank The Runnymede Trust, shows that stop and searches have increased levels of mental and physical ill-health, and a distrust of the police felt disproportionately by black and ethnic minority communities.

But, police stop and search powers have only expanded in the last decade. 

As a result, Legalitees is for calling for greater education around rights, in particular for black and ethnic minority communities. 

Muhammed Rauf, director of business development at Centric said: “In Brixton, the complex history of stop and search intertwines with the lived experiences of its current residents. 

“Legalitiees art delves into the tensions of injustice and police misconduct, which comes to a head in the police’s power to stop and search.”

All profits from the shirt will be donated to programmes run by Centric to offer educational and mental health support to communities affected by stop and search. 

A spokesman from the National Police Chief’s Council said: “Police officers are given powers to use to tackle crime, protect communities and as far as we can, reduce the risk of harm, death and serious injury to others.

“It is essential that these powers are used legitimately in order to build trust and confidence in our communities. It is vital that each police interaction is handled sensitively, in line with policy, and that we learn from those instances where we have not got that balance right.”

“Currently confidence in the police among Black people is far too low and we need to change that to be legitimate and effective. The Police Race Action Plan sets out the commitment of chief constables in England and Wales to become an anti-racist police service that Black people can trust.”

Pictured top: Legalitees T-shirt showing stop and shirt rights printed on the front (Picture: Legalitees)