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New Metropolitan Police database could ‘repeat racial harms’, human rights campaigners warn
The force said it had “concerns about disproportionality" about the now-scrapped Gang Violence Matrix, with eight in ten individuals listed on it being Black.
The Metropolitan Police said it has introduced the Violence Harms Assessment system, after the Gangs Violence Matrix was subject to legal challenges in 2022.
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Racial harms embedded in a scrapped Metropolitan Police database are “set to be repeated” by its successor, human rights organisations have warned.
The Metropolitan Police has overhauled its controversial Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM), after legal challenges and “concerns about disproportionality”.
In 2023, 496 people were registered on the GVM. 82% of the individuals on the list were Black or from an ethnic minority.
In its stead, the force has introduced the Violence Harms Assessment (VHA) system, after the GMV was subject to legal challenges in 2022.
But human rights organisations say that the new system could have similar issues.
Louise Whitfield, from human rights charity Liberty, said the organisation has “serious concerns that the racial discrimination embedded in the Gangs Matrix is set to be repeated in the Violence Harms Assessment system.”
Paul Anderson, the CEO of Voyage youth club, said the Matrix has “always been a problem because it only focused on people of colour and young people, particularly young Black boys.”
Awate Suleiman, a musician who legally challenged the GVM, said “the Gangs Matrix was a relic of colonialism used by the Met Police to target people it thinks nobody cares about.”
“I’m disappointed that it’s been replaced by yet another system which looks set to repeat this injustice and continue to discriminate against working-class Black people.”
What was the Gangs Violence Matrix?
The GVM was a database used by the Metropolitan Police to determine an individual’s “propensity for violence”, according to 14 different factors, including friendship groups.
The likelihood of being included on the matrix increased by 4.8 times if an individual was a previous robbery suspect and nearly doubled if the individual was Black, but the likelihood was halved if the individual was Asian.
The risk-assessment tool was created after the 2011 London riots.
In the days following, then-prime minister David Cameron declared a “concerted, all-out war on gangs and gang culture”, blaming gangs for the rioting.
The Gangs Violence Matrix was created after the 2011 London riots. Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Individuals listed on the matrix, known as “gang nominals”, are ranked according to the level of risk or harm they present to society and are categorised accordingly.
Why was the GVM controversial?
The GVM was the subject of substantial controversy and scrutiny from Amnesty International, Liberty and Unjust UK.
A legal challenge was made against the Metropolitan Police by UNJUST UK and musician Awate Suleiman for breaching the privacy of listed individuals after police would not disclose whether Mr Suleiman featured on the list.
Campaigners were also seriously concerned with the over-representation of young Black males on the list.
In October 2022, the Met conducted a review of GVM data and admitted that the Matrix had an “unacceptably high” rate of racial disproportionality given that 79% were Black in 2022.
The largest group on the GVM were Black men under the age of 25.
Notably, the list is almost exclusively made up of men between 2013 and 2023 and in 2022, 37% of people on the list were in custody.
After the review, the Met said it was “committed to the complete redesign of the Gangs Violence Matrix”, according to Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist.
Following the legal challenges, the Metropolitan Police said that the GVM will “no longer exist”.
The Matrix has seen a sharp decline in the number of listed individuals, down to 496 in 2023.
The police said they will delete the data within three months.
Assistant Commissioner Twist says they “spent the past year engaging with community members and relevant stakeholders, to ensure we have complete transparency about our new approach to tackling the most violent and harmful offenders in London.”
Katrina Ffrench, founder of UNJUST UK, said:
“The Gangs Matrix was an unlawful tool the Met used to track young Black men and children for more than a decade, and it’s right that it has finally been scrapped.
“The State has a duty to uphold human rights and through the Gangs Matrix, it has massively failed in doing that.”
Concerns remain
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the new VHA system would not focus on gangs as “community members felt violence overall was the overwhelming concern, rather than street gang violence in isolation.”
The new approach aims to become more evidence-based and data-driven, according to Asst Commissioner Twist.
But Mr Anderson said “police evidence has always been a question… as it always tends to reflect the stereotype [police] have in mind.”
Though the new approach has been rolled out, “the real differences are yet to emerge” said Simon Harding, Director of Centre for Gang Violence.
Ms Ffrench said “the Met must not repeat the same mistakes by bringing in yet another system that treats Black people unequally and unfairly.”
Submitted Article
HeadlineNew police database will 'repeat racial harms', campaigners warn
Short HeadlineCampaigners: Met Police set to repeat racial harms
StandfirstThe Metropolitan Police have overhauled the controversial Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM) with a new system, but campaigners say that the updated approach will repeat harms.
Published Article
HeadlineNew Metropolitan Police database could ‘repeat racial harms’, human rights campaigners warn
Short HeadlinePolice warned new database could repeat 'racial harms'
StandfirstThe force said it had “concerns about disproportionality" about the now-scrapped Gang Violence Matrix, with eight in ten individuals listed on it being Black.
Racial harms embedded in a scrapped Metropolitan Police database are “set to be repeated” by its successor, human rights organisations have warned.
The Metropolitan Police has overhauled the controversial Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM).
In 2023, there were 496 people who were listed on the GVM, of which 82% were Black or from an ethnic minority.
In light of these figures, Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist says the police have decided to stop using the Gangs Violence Matrix over “concerns about disproportionality”.
Now the Metropolitan Police have introduced the Violence Harms Assessment (VHA) system, after the GMV was subject to legal challenges in 2022.
But human rights organisations say that the new system could have similar issues.
Louise Whitfield, from human rights charity Liberty, say they “have serious concerns that the racial discrimination embedded in the Gangs Matrix is set to be repeated in the Violence Harms Assessment system.”
Paul Anderson, CEO of Voyage youth club, says that the Matrix has “always been a problem because it only focused on people of colour and young people, particularly black young boys.”
Awate Suleiman, a musician who legally challenged the GVM, says that “the Gangs Matrix was a relic of colonialism used by the Met Police to target people it thinks nobody cares about.”
“I’m disappointed that it’s been replaced by yet another system which looks set to repeat this injustice and continue to discriminate against working-class Black people.”
What was the Gangs Violence Matrix?
The GVM is a database used by the Metropolitan Police to determine an individual’s ‘propensity for violence’, according to 14 different factors including friendship groups.
The likelihood of being included on the matrix increased by 4.8 times if an individual was a previous robbery suspect and nearly doubled if the individual was Black, but the likelihood halved if the individual was Asian.
The risk-assessment tool was created in 2011 after violent riots in London.
In the days following the riots, then Prime Minister David Cameron declared a ‘concerted, all-out war on gangs and gang culture’, blaming gangs for the rioting.
British riot police officers in 2011. Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Individuals listed on the matrix, known as ‘gang nominals’, are ranked according to the level of risk or harm they present to society and are categorised accordingly.
Why was the GVM controversial?
The GVM was the subject of substantial controversy and scrutiny from Amnesty International, Liberty and Unjust UK.
A legal challenge was made against the Metropolitan Police by UNJUST UK and musician Awate Suleiman for breaching the privacy of listed individuals after Police would not disclose whether Mr Suleiman featured on the list.
Campaigners were also seriously concerned with the over representation of young Black males on the list.
In October 2022, the Met conducted a review of GVM data and admitted that the Matrix had an “unacceptably high” rate of racial disproportionality given that 79% were black in 2022.
The largest group on the GVM were black men under the age of 25. Notably, the list is almost exclusively made up of men between 2013 and 2023 and in 2022, 37% of people on the list were in custody.
After the review, the Met were “committed to the complete redesign of the Gangs Violence Matrix”, according to Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist.
GVM Scrapped
Following legal challenges from UNJUST UK and Awate Suleiman, the Metropolitan Police have said that the GVM will “no longer exist”.
Though, the Matrix has seen a sharp decline in the number of listed individuals to 496 in 2023, the Police have said they will delete data within three months.
Assistant Commissioner Twist says they “spent the past year engaging with community members and relevant stakeholders, to ensure we have complete transparency about our new approach to tackling the most violent and harmful offenders in London.”
Katrina Ffrench, founder of UNJUST UK, says “the Gangs Matrix was an unlawful tool the Met used to track young Black men and children for more than a decade, and it’s right that it has finally been scrapped.
“The State has a duty to uphold human rights and through the Gangs Matrix, it has massively failed in doing that.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan says that the new VHA system would not focus on gangs as “community members felt violence overall was the overwhelming concern, rather than street gang violence in isolation.”
A better update?
London Mayor Sadiq Khan says that the new VHA system would not focus on gangs as “community members felt violence overall was the overwhelming concern, rather than street gang violence in isolation.”
The new approach aims to become more evidence-based and data driven according to Assistant Commissioner Twist.
But Paul Anderson, says that ” Police evidence has always been a question… as it always tends to reflect the stereotype [police] have in mind.”
Though the new approach has been rolled out, “the real differences are yet to emerge” says Simon Harding Director of Centre for Gang Violence.
Katrina Ffrench says “the Met must not repeat the same mistakes by bringing in yet another system that treats Black people unequally and unfairly.”
Racial harms embedded in a scrapped Metropolitan Police database are “set to be repeated” by its successor, human rights organisations have warned.
The Metropolitan Police has overhauled its controversial Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM), after legal challenges and “concerns about disproportionality”.
In 2023, 496 people were registered on the GVM. 82% of the individuals on the list were Black or from an ethnic minority.
In its stead, the force has introduced the Violence Harms Assessment (VHA) system, after the GMV was subject to legal challenges in 2022.
But human rights organisations say that the new system could have similar issues.
Louise Whitfield, from human rights charity Liberty, said the organisation has “serious concerns that the racial discrimination embedded in the Gangs Matrix is set to be repeated in the Violence Harms Assessment system.”
Paul Anderson, the CEO of Voyage youth club, said the Matrix has “always been a problem because it only focused on people of colour and young people, particularly young Black boys.”
Awate Suleiman, a musician who legally challenged the GVM, said “the Gangs Matrix was a relic of colonialism used by the Met Police to target people it thinks nobody cares about.”
“I’m disappointed that it’s been replaced by yet another system which looks set to repeat this injustice and continue to discriminate against working-class Black people.”
What was the Gangs Violence Matrix?
The GVM was a database used by the Metropolitan Police to determine an individual’s “propensity for violence”, according to 14 different factors, including friendship groups.
The likelihood of being included on the matrix increased by 4.8 times if an individual was a previous robbery suspect and nearly doubled if the individual was Black, but the likelihood was halved if the individual was Asian.
The risk-assessment tool was created after the 2011 London riots.
In the days following, then-prime minister David Cameron declared a “concerted, all-out war on gangs and gang culture”, blaming gangs for the rioting.
The Gangs Violence Matrix was created after the 2011 London riots. Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO
Individuals listed on the matrix, known as “gang nominals”, are ranked according to the level of risk or harm they present to society and are categorised accordingly.
Why was the GVM controversial?
The GVM was the subject of substantial controversy and scrutiny from Amnesty International, Liberty and Unjust UK.
A legal challenge was made against the Metropolitan Police by UNJUST UK and musician Awate Suleiman for breaching the privacy of listed individuals after police would not disclose whether Mr Suleiman featured on the list.
Campaigners were also seriously concerned with the over-representation of young Black males on the list.
In October 2022, the Met conducted a review of GVM data and admitted that the Matrix had an “unacceptably high” rate of racial disproportionality given that 79% were Black in 2022.
The largest group on the GVM were Black men under the age of 25.
Notably, the list is almost exclusively made up of men between 2013 and 2023 and in 2022, 37% of people on the list were in custody.
After the review, the Met said it was “committed to the complete redesign of the Gangs Violence Matrix”, according to Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist.
Following the legal challenges, the Metropolitan Police said that the GVM will “no longer exist”.
The Matrix has seen a sharp decline in the number of listed individuals, down to 496 in 2023.
The police said they will delete the data within three months.
Assistant Commissioner Twist says they “spent the past year engaging with community members and relevant stakeholders, to ensure we have complete transparency about our new approach to tackling the most violent and harmful offenders in London.”
Katrina Ffrench, founder of UNJUST UK, said:
“The Gangs Matrix was an unlawful tool the Met used to track young Black men and children for more than a decade, and it’s right that it has finally been scrapped.
“The State has a duty to uphold human rights and through the Gangs Matrix, it has massively failed in doing that.”
Concerns remain
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the new VHA system would not focus on gangs as “community members felt violence overall was the overwhelming concern, rather than street gang violence in isolation.”
The new approach aims to become more evidence-based and data-driven, according to Asst Commissioner Twist.
But Mr Anderson said “police evidence has always been a question… as it always tends to reflect the stereotype [police] have in mind.”
Though the new approach has been rolled out, “the real differences are yet to emerge” said Simon Harding, Director of Centre for Gang Violence.
Ms Ffrench said “the Met must not repeat the same mistakes by bringing in yet another system that treats Black people unequally and unfairly.”
