Police have been met with outrage after footage emerged of a mum being arrested in front of her son in south London accused of not paying a bus fare.
Video shared on social media shows the woman in handcuffs as her distressed child stands nearby and members of the public protest.
The Met has confirmed the incident took place on Whitehorse Road, Croydon, on Friday (July 21). The force said the woman failed to comply with a revenue inspector and attempted to walk from police before becoming abusive.
She was arrested on suspicion of fare evasion and detained. When it was found later she had, in fact, paid the fare she was released.
The Met added on Twitter: ‘The clip does not show the full interaction and as we’ve said, we’ll be speaking to local community groups to listen to their views on this interaction.’
Twitter commenters said the officers’ behaviour was ‘disgusting’ and made their ‘blood run cold’.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is due to investigate.
Two male officers are seen trying to detain the mum, who already has her hands cuffed in front of her, while a PCSO kneels down with her son.
The woman shouts: ‘What the hell?! What are you doing? What the f*** is going on?’
The child can be heard crying. Several people are seen to be filming the incident on their phones
A man says: ‘Hold on, hold on, why are you arresting her? Is that her son? What the f***!’
He then asks one of the officers: ‘Can you tell me what she’s done, please?’
The officer responds: ‘No.’
The man then claims the woman is his sister. He then says: ‘Over a f***ing bus pass?’
The mum shouts: ‘You’re hurting my arm! No you don’t – I haven’t done anything!’
The man says: ‘Why are you handling her like that? She’s a f***ing woman. Look how they’re treating her, a f***ing woman. F***ing disgrace! I know that my sister is being manipulated and manhandled by two men.’
An officer off camera then explains it is due to ‘fare evasion’.
The man responds: ‘Wow. Haven’t you got anything better to do with your time?’
The officer then says: ‘Do you pay your fare when you get on a bus? Or a train?’ The man answers: ‘I don’t get on a bus. Look at her son!’
One Twitter commenter said: ‘DISGUSTING. That poor little boy is going to have to live with this for the rest of his life, let alone the woman! Hope they are both well away from this and that they get the right help after the trauma as well. Made my blood run cold.’
Another added: ‘What is London? In Hull if you try and skip, you just get thrown off the bus and told to bugger off.’
Labour MP for Vauxhall Florence Eshalomi tweeted: ‘There is a distressing video circulating online with a woman handcuffed in front of her young son.
‘Please be careful sharing this online to help protect this young boy who is very traumatised by the situation. Myself and other colleges have raised this with the Mayor of London.’
Fellow MP Claudia Webbe said: ‘The most disrespected person is the black woman. The most unprotected person is the black woman. The most neglected person is the black woman.
‘The Met Police is the boot of the state; they do not care about black people, and black women in particular.’
The Met released a statement yesterday explaining it was aware of the video circulating and said officers from the Roads and Transport Policing Command were conducting a joint revenue protection operation with Transport for London inspectors.
Assistant Commissioner Matt Twist said: ‘It is clear from the video that has been shared online that this incident was distressing for the woman involved and particularly for her child.
‘We understand why it has prompted significant public concern and we want to be transparent about our position and the role of our officers.
‘Officers from the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Command were supporting TfL ticket inspectors on a pre-planned operation in Windmill Road, Croydon on Friday, 21 July.
As buses pulled into the stop, TfL inspectors would check the tickets of those onboard and also those getting off.
‘Anyone without a valid ticket is required to provide their details to a TfL inspector so a penalty fare can be issued. This is not a policing matter. Officers only become involved where details are not provided or where someone tries to leave when challenged.
‘The woman involved in this incident was asked to provide her ticket as she got off the bus, but did not do so.
‘She was spoken to by a TfL inspector, then by a PCSO and finally by a police officer. She continued to try to walk away and did not provide her ticket for inspection.
‘She was arrested on suspicion of fare evasion and was handcuffed. When officers were able to take her ticket from her so that the TfL inspectors could check it, they were able to confirm it was valid. She was immediately de-arrested and her handcuffs were removed.
‘Throughout the incident, the child was comforted by a PCSO who immediately recognised his distress. Anyone seeing how upset he was would be moved by this, and we regret any impact it may have on him.’
