The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has welcomed the news that three Metropolitan Police officers are to face disciplinary proceedings following a racially motivated attack on a black firefighter in 2011.
Off duty London firefighter Edric Kennedy-MacFoy was verbally abused and tasered by police in Harrow, north London after he attempted to help them identify a man who had thrown a rock at a police van. Following an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), three officers will now face gross misconduct charges. Soon after the incident, one of the officers involved was promoted.
Michael Nicholas, secretary of the FBU’s Black & Ethnic Minority Members (B&EMM) section, condemned the police officers involved. “Edric acted as an upstanding member of the public and tried to assist the police in their job. It is nothing less than horrific that, as a result of his skin colour, he was brutally assaulted. It is shameful that more than 20 years after being called out for institutional racism following the Stephen Lawrence killing, Metropolitan Police officers are still acting in this brutal, racist way”, he said.
“Questions must now be answered about how one officer involved in the attack went on to be promoted. To members of the black community, it feels as if the officer has been rewarded for his racism. It is of the utmost importance to all of our communities that the Metropolitan Police Service is held to account when these incidents occur.”
