On a cold and rainy Friday, 14 February 2014, a young barrister was on the way to see his fiancée. He’d had a personalised plaque made for her, as a romantic gesture for Valentine’s Day. He was arrested.
Police stopped him, wrongly believing he had a firearm. They twisted his arms behind his back, handcuffed him, and pushed his face into park railings.
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Number of times tactics were used per 100,000 population 2018/19
Source: Home Office
Number of times tactics were used per 100,000 arrests 2018/19
Source: Home Office
Number of times more likely to be searched as a black person than a white person
Source: Home Office
% of police officer population by ethnicity
Source: Home Office
% of population in prison
Source: MoJ, ONS
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This article was updated to include a graph showing use of force vs arrest figures.