Mother attacks decision to clear police who arrested boy, 13, with water pistol

The mother of a black boy who was surrounded by armed officers and arrested when his water pistol was mistaken for a gun has said “the police would not have treated my son in the way that they did if he had been a white 13-year-old boy”

She was speaking after an Independent Office for Police Conduct investigation found the officers’ actions were reasonable in the circumstances during the incident in Hackney, east London, on July 19 2023.

Her son, who is identified only as Child X, is a black boy who was 13 when he was playing with his younger sister in broad daylight with a brightly coloured plastic water pistol.

A uniformed Metropolitan Police officer reported what he saw as a potential firearms incident.

Child X was arrested by armed police officers who knocked him off his bicycle and into a wall by driving into him, pointed their weapons and placed him in handcuffs.

Child X was de-arrested at the scene once his mother arrived and challenged what was happening.

He went to hospital and was treated for bruising and swelling due to the collision with the police vehicle.

His mother said: “From the outset, I made it clear that I expected any investigation into the incident to look at the very obvious role that my son’s race played in the way in which he was treated by the police.

“Unfortunately, the IOPC have shown themselves to be completely incapable of understanding what race discrimination is and how it actually operates in the way that black children are treated by the police”.

Complaints from the mother alleging racial bias and adultification prompted the investigation.

The mother, who is also critical of the IOPC, said: “At first, they didn’t want to investigate my concerns at all.

“They only agreed to investigate after they were publicly embarrassed in the media and had to respond to the widespread support my family has received in the local community and from parents around the country.”

The IOPC found that a Met Police officer had reported seeing a male, aged about 16, on a bicycle pull out what appeared to be a handgun and point it at a female before they both cycled off.

The gun was described as being “blue and white” and “shaped like a Glock”.

A firearms incident was declared by a tactical firearms commander and armed officers from both the Met and the City of London Police were deployed to locate the child.

Shortly before 4pm, armed response officers saw the child alone on the road cycling towards them and used their vehicle to make tactical contact with his bicycle at low speed which knocked the child into a wall, the IOPC said.

He was surrounded by armed officers with their weapons drawn and was arrested and handcuffed on the ground.

When the boy was asked about the gun he said it was a water gun and “it’s at home”.

In the background, a member of the public could be heard repeatedly telling the officers that the child had a water gun.

Nothing was found when the boy was searched and his mother later also told the officers he had been playing with a water pistol.

IOPC regional director Charmaine Arbouin said: “Police officers have a duty to protect the public from harm and the evidence from our investigation supported the first officer’s belief that he thought he may have seen a real firearm.

“The decision to send armed officers to the scene following the report of a firearm was in line with guidance, and based on the evidence we obtained we found no indication that any officers behaved in a manner that would justify bringing disciplinary proceedings.”

Ms Arbouin said: “We know that this incident was distressing to the child involved and his family.

“Being arrested, handcuffed and searched by armed officers would have been a frightening experience for anyone, let alone a 13-year-old.

“We note the Met Police has apologised to the boy’s family for the distress caused.”

The IOPC’s decision provoked outrage from the the Alliance for Police Accountability (APA) campaign who said it highlights the “the ongoing failure of oversight bodies to address systemic racial bias and disproportionate policing of black communities” and that “extensive research shows that black children are disproportionately targeted, treated as adults, and subjected to excessive force.”

APA chairman Lee Jasper said: “This case exemplifies the failure of both the Metropolitan Police and the IOPC to protect black children and hold officers accountable for the harm they cause.

“A 13-year-old black boy playing with a water pistol was treated as an armed criminal, brutalised, and left traumatised.”

Detective Chief Superintendent James Conway, in charge of policing for Hackney and Tower Hamlets, welcomed the IOPC’s decision stating it “found officers acted correctly, both in deciding to send firearms officers to the scene and then how they dealt with the incident on arrival.”

He said: “This incident shows just how difficult it can be to determine whether a firearm is real.

“The public would not wish us to hesitate in responding and risk a genuine firearm being used on the streets of London. We have a duty to protect the public from harm.”

He added: “Nonetheless, this incident was understandably extremely distressing for the boy involved as well as his family and we remain sorry for the impact upon them.”