Scotland Yard on Wednesday released its first set of data from policing action taken to impose the coronavirus lockdown across London, which reveals a high proportion of ethnic minorities being fined or arrested for breaches.
The Metropolitan Police said it had issued 973 fines, or Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs), between March 27 and May 14. Those categorised as Asian, which would include people of Indian origin, received 220 fines reflecting 22.6 per cent of FPNs compared to their 18 per cent share of London’s population.
Black people received 253 fines, reflecting 26 per cent of FPNs compared to their 12 per cent share of the UK capital’s population. This compares with 444 fines for those categorised as White British, making up 45.6 per cent of the FPNs while making up 59 per cent of London’s population.
“When compared with the composition of the resident population, higher proportions of those in black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups were issued with FPNs or arrested across London as a whole,” the Met Police admitted.
“The reasons for this are likely to be complex and reflect a range of factors. This includes interactions between the areas subject to significant proactive policing activity targeting crime hot-spots and both the variation in the age-profile and geographical distribution of ethnic groups in London,” it said.
Of a total of 711 arrests made in connection with COVID-19 legislation, the largest group of arrested people were white at 38 per cent, followed by blacks at 31 per cent and 14 per cent Asian. When taken just in terms of total numbers without proportionality, more white people received FPNs or were arrested than other individual ethnic groups.