Racism campaigners call for police watchdog to be abolished

Black families whose relatives have died in police incidents demand end to systemic racism

Black families in the UK whose loved ones have died in incidents involving the police have called for the abolition of the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates the police, and the immediate suspension of officers involved in deaths as part of a new plan to address systemic racism and unlawful killings.

The United Families & Friends Campaign (UFFC), which supports family members of those who have died following police incidents, has drawn up an eight-point plan calling for fundamental changes to the way deaths involving the police are dealt with. A disproportionately high number of these deaths involving the police are black and the UFFC said that failing to successfully prosecute police sends the message that the state can act with impunity.