The Runnymede Trust calls for a full, thorough and transparent inquiry into the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba

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While acknowledging that a criminal investigation has now been opened into the fatal shooting of Chris Kaba by an officer of the Metropolitan Police, and that said Officer has today been suspended from "frontline duties", the Runnymede Trust calls on the relevant authorities including the IOPC to ensure a full, thorough and transparent inquiry.
 
Mr Kaba is the second Black man to have died at the hands of the Met in just three months. In June, Oladeji Omishore fell into the Thames on being tasered after experiencing a mental health crisis. Both men were unarmed. Both deaths raise serious questions about the decision-making capacity of the Met and the proportionality of the force being exerted by the police against minority communities across our capital city.
 
Today Sir Mark Rowley assumes his role as the new Met Commissioner. We recall in recent memory the murder of Sarah Everard by a Met officer; the grotesque treatment of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry by Met officers; the way in which groups of Met officers have been exposed demeaning our LGBTQ+,  Muslim and Jewish communities while “joking” about raping female colleagues, killing black children and beating spouses. There can be no doubt that Sir Mark takes his place at the head of a broken organisation – one that demands immediate action to eradicate the contagion of systemic prejudice.