The Met deny race was an issue when off-duty black policeman was stopped in his car

The Met’s top brass have denied one of their own cops was stopped as a result of “racial profiling”.

The officer made a complaint to his bosses on May 24, the day after he was pulled over in his car.

Inspector Charles Ehikioya, 55, recorded the incident, which happened as he drove home to Croydon from his work in South London.

He told the BBC it was an “abuse of power” and was speaking out in solidarity with the black community after recent cases of MP Dawn Butler and Team GB athlete Bianca Williams who were both stopped in their cars by police.

This followed an incident on Saturday, 23 May 2020, when the serving Metropolitan Police officer was stopped by police while driving his vehicle in Croydon. The driver, who is a black man, alleged that the stop was the result of racial profiling.

Enquiries were made by the Professional Standards Unit, who were told the car was followed by officers who believed it had gone too fast at a traffic signal and onward.

The Met says the body-worn video of the stop showed the officers communicated their reasons for the stop to the complainant as they are required to do.

The review, overseen by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards, found no evidence of misconduct or racism.

Commander Alison Heydari said: “The review found no evidence at all of racial profiling. There have been comments reported today that these officers, who carried out the stop, are ‘clearly racist’ and even ‘two active racists’. I cannot say strongly enough how wholly unfair that is based upon the evidence and the review carried out.

“These officers were simply doing their job and carried out the stop in a polite and professional manner. All officers involved in this incident, including the officer who raised the concerns, are being supported.”

No action was taken against the off-duty officer.

A statement from the Met added: “While we do not underestimate the impact that stops of any kind have on the community, securing and maintaining the trust of the public is integral to the principle of policing by consent and to continue to do so, we recognise that our staff must act with professionalism and integrity.

“Any allegation, whether external or internal, made concerning the conduct of our staff is taken extremely seriously. We will fully examine each incident to determine whether the conduct of staff has breached the standards of professional behaviour.

“Where the conduct of staff is proven to have fallen below the standards of behaviour expected, we will take robust action to ensure that staff are appropriately disciplined and that lessons are learnt from each case.”