Police watchdog to review Croydon bus fare evasion arrest

The Met Police has referred itself to the police watchdog over the treatment of a woman arrested in front of her son in Croydon, south London, after wrongly being accused of bus fare evasion.

Footage of the mother shouting as two officers handcuffed and held her provoked criticism on social media.

The Met said she was later released when it was confirmed she had paid for her ticket.

The force added the video was a "snapshot of a wider incident".

It also told BBC London it was trying to "find the lady involved, and to get her side of the story" and that "our comms perhaps could have been slightly better".

"Trust has taken a hit," Met Ch Supt Andy Brittain, who covers Croydon, said.

The police officers were working together with Transport for London (TfL) inspectors on Whitehorse Road, Croydon, when the incident happened on Friday morning.

'Racially profiled'

The police watchdog says it received a "complaint referral" from the Met on Monday afternoon, with the complaint alleging the woman was "racially profiled and verbally abused by an officer".

The Met said the woman left the bus after not complying with a revenue inspector's request to check that she had paid her fare.

According to the Met, when asked to stop by police she attempted to walk off and became "abusive".

As a result, the force said she was arrested on suspicion of fare evasion and detained.

In the video, she repeatedly asks one of the officers to let go and says "I haven't done anything wrong", while a member of the public films what is happening and asks why she is being arrested.

The woman was arrested on Whitehorse Road, Croydon

Officers did eventually check her ticket, which was valid. She was then unhandcuffed and released.

Boy 'very traumatised'

Vauxhall Labour MP Florence Eshalomi urged people to be "careful" sharing the video as the woman's son was "very traumatised by the situation", adding she and other colleagues had raised it with the mayor of London.

The Met initially said it realised it was a "distressing video to watch, even more so as a child is seen to be visibly upset by the way in which his mother has been apprehended".

"We regret the upset that has been caused to the child."

It also said the incident raised "questions about the extent to which officers are having to intervene in this way when supporting TfL in their operations".

Met Ch Supt Andy Brittain, of the South Basic Command Unit, which covers Croydon, later told BBC London: "I think the social media footage got out, which kind of only showed a small picture of what took place.

"Then our comms perhaps could have been slightly better and and then it's kind of cascaded into quite a big community concern.

"For me today, it's about listening to the community, understanding their perspective, what it looked like to them.

'I'm a parent'

"And I think the big thing as well is to try and find the lady involved and to get her side of the story.

"Trust has taken a hit as a result of the video, so it's really important we understand what took place."

He added: "I'm a parent like everyone else and to see a child in that much distress is really upsetting.

"We've paused any operations of that nature to give us time to work out what happened."

The force has said officers' body worn video, which was active for a longer period than the social media clip, had been reviewed.

Despite not initially identifying any "conduct matters" the Met said it had voluntarily referred itself to the IOPC due to grave public concern.

The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) has said it will "decide if any further action is required".

TfL's head of policing and community safety Mandy McGregor said: "We are aware of this very distressing incident and the impact it has had on the community.

"We are speaking to the police to understand the wider circumstances and will support them with their investigation to get to the bottom of what happened."

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