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A thousand young, black men removed from Met gang violence prediction database | Metropolitan police | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/03/a-thousand-young-black-men-removed-from-met-gang-violence-prediction-database
If anyone knows of anyone who thinks they are on or may have been on the gangs matrix, please send them to Tottenham Rights. https://www.tottenhamrights.org/
An overview of âThe Matrixâ: a database of information identifying people the Met believe have been involved in âgangâ violence and those who are âat riskâ of experiencing violence or getting involved.
Gangs are defined by the Met as groups of 3 or more people, with other loose descriptors about what their activities might be. Nothing specifically to do with organised crime. But itâs defined largely by locality and personal affiliations.
The database shares suspicions with agencies such as schools, the NHS, DVLA, DWP and so on.
It allows officers to define where people go, who they speak to and what they have access to by sending them restriction letters threatening legal action if rules arenât followed.
It allows officers to define where people go, who they speak to and what they have access to by sending them restriction letters threatening legal action if rules arenât followed.
People arenât informed that they are on the matrix and that their information is being shared widely with no real reasons being given by the police, other than the person *may* have affiliations Witt other characters they take an interest in.
Itâs racial profiling and institutionalised targeting on a whole new level and itâs a direct result of the 2011 riots and the MPS preoccupation with the notion of gangs, especially as they define it relating to black youths in London.
The immediate and long term impact of the Gangs Matrix includes being kicked out of social housing for communication with restricted persons, having drivers licences withdrawn, being suspended from school without an arrest having first occurred. And on and on and on.
Hereâs a full report by Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/reports/Trapped%20in%20the%20Matrix%20Amnesty%20report.pdf
No matter how many ways they change the face of policing Black communities, at the end the result is always the same.
No matter how many ways they change the face of policing Black communities, at the end the result is always the same.
The Data Commissionerâs response has encouraged the removal of names from this database. But it still doesnât mean that policing Black people in this country has or will change. The removal of names is just a momentary blip for a machine like the MPS. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2018/11/ico-finds-metropolitan-police-service-s-gangs-matrix-breached-data-protection-laws/
But itâs a spanner in the works that couldnât have happened without work form Tottenham Rights. That said, next step is actually getting those on the Matrix to come forward and have their individual cases dealt with appropriately.
The main takeaway from any of this is that gangs are a fictive construct by the police to continually target young Black men in particular. Itâs egregiously brazen targeting of our kids and itâs the same policing attitude that leads to deaths in custody.
Looking at it from a community perspective, when you have young Black boys that are doing music (literally, Mark Dugganâs son) and however many other young people who are involved in having public and private lives which are monitored by the police in such an aggressive manner...
...alongside other agencies which are supposed to serve them, they are walking targets. Everyday.
The only hope is collectivising and knowing exactly what is happening to them. Part of the struggle is thinking structurally even when you are a small axe.
The only hope is collectivising and knowing exactly what is happening to them. Part of the struggle is thinking structurally even when you are a small axe.
Again, for Matrix (and other policing) related enquiries head to Tottenham Rights. 
