Sir Mark Rowley at Lift youth hub on Tuesday

YOUNG people say the police must engage better with them and build back trust.

At a community meeting on Tuesday evening in Lift youth hub in Red Lion Street, Angel,  Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley launched the force’s A New Met For London plan, which is a 10-point charter outlining how the force says it will reform.

Sir Mark heard calls for officers to pay proper attention to how they interact with young people and commit to change for the good.

At the meeting, Sasha Magonya, a 19-year-old peer support worker, told the Tribune: “There’s not a good relationship trustwise between young people and the police. The main thing is the stop and searches – they don’t go very well.

“That does need to change. Innocent young people are scared of the police, and they don’t trust the police.

Sasha Magonya

“I know young people who walk past police cars or hear sirens and get nervous or scared, and these are kids who aren’t involved in anything criminal.”

Ms Magonya said she understands officers work under stress and poor conditions, “but, you can’t say that you’re trying to put stuff in place but you’re putting children on the floor, when they’re not trying to run away, they’re just scared.

“We actually do need police. Even though young people say we don’t, we do.

“There are real criminals, real nasty horrible people out there … if we give them [the police] that trust as young people, it will be good for everyone.”

Speaking at the event, Islington youth councillor Ayokunnu Ahmed also questioned how the police interact with young people of colour. He said: “The police are able to arrest you on suspicion, but suspicion is objective … someone could just be subconsciously racist, and you wouldn’t know if someone was arrested because of their race or they’re suspicious.”

Ayokunnu Ahmed

Evelynn Jackman, head of Islington’s Independent Advisory Group to the police, which liaises between the police and the community, said she was “sceptical” of the plan and wanted to see real action.

“They need to get the confidence of the young people. If you see a young person – engage, speak to them; you’re coming to them like ‘aw, what are you doing?’ and they get defensive. If you engage, and ask them ‘what’s going on?’, and have the right perspective, then break down what they’re doing,” she said.

Speaking after the event, Sir Mark told the Tribune he thought it was “fair” that people wanted to see action after the plan.

He agrees that there is a lack of trust between young people and police officers, but said: “If you were to ask any generation in the last 100 years, young people have always had less trust in authority, so there’s always going to be some of that there.

“Nobody says to me, stop and search isn’t important … But if it’s done badly, it leaves people feeling upset and angry, and it breaks trust.

“So doing it to be successful, but also doing it to build trust is important, which is why we’re testing different ways to do stop and search.”