IOPC appeals for calm following incident in custody suite

The IOPC is independently investigating the incident, which took place at Perry Barr custody suite last week and has received significant attention on social media.

A complaint was made to the force, and subsequently referred to the IOPC, regarding the man’s treatment and alleges officers’ actions towards him were racially motivated.

However, after viewing CCTV footage from the custody suite, the IOPC said it can say with “absolute certainty” that the head covering “was not stamped on at any stage” and that a false video circulated on social media had caused “significant concern”.

West Midlands Police said the video circulating on social media was “not connected to this incident” and an image has been used from elsewhere “giving an entirely misleading version of the events”.

IOPC Regional Director Derrick Campbell said: “This incident has caused understandable unrest within the local community and I want to reassure everyone that this will be thoroughly and independently investigated.

“We are now in possession of all the CCTV footage from the custody suite, which I have viewed myself. Our investigation will look at the actions of police during the incident to determine the facts.

“What I can say with absolute certainty at this stage, in direct response to questions I have received from members of the local community, is that the head covering was not stamped on at any stage.”

He added: “A false video shared on social media has caused significant concern for many and I am appealing for calm while this is investigated. Rest assured we will be working hard to ensure the facts of what happened are brought to light and this matter is dealt with appropriately.”

Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the police station after the allegations emerged.

In a statement in response to social media posts, West Midlands Police said: “We are deeply concerned that a video compilation circulating on social media infers that one of the stills included shows a man having his turban forcibly removed and stamped on in Perry Barr custody suite. This is not the case. The author has used an image from elsewhere giving an entirely misleading version of the events. The CCTV featured in this video is not connected to this incident.

“We can confirm that a man in custody was asked to remove his patka to be searched. It was removed by an officer in a private room to search for anything that could be harmful to the man or our custody officers. The head covering fell to the floor at one point, but was immediately retrieved and at no point was it stamped on.”

The force added: “We are now examining all the CCTV surrounding our officers’ interactions with the man in custody to establish if there was any inappropriate conduct.

“We understand the religious significance of head coverings to the Sikh faith and we know this incident has caused outrage and anger to the Sikh community and the wider public but we must stress that social media speculation based on supposition is unhelpful and inflammatory.

“We continue to strive for better relationships with the communities we serve and we are determined to hold to account any officer who does not adhere to the standards of professional behaviour.”