Eric Boateng-Taylor, who was stopped and searched by police for wearing a coat in “hot weather”, tells Vincent McAviney of ITV News London that Metropolitan Police officers need more training.
A black man was stopped by police on Croydon Street because he was wearing a coat in hot weather. Eric Boateng-Taylor, also known as Carter Jr., was on his way to work after a shopping spree to buy toilet rolls on Wednesday when he was stopped by police who asked him why he was wearing a coat. The local businessman, who owns a car wash business and has a drink kiosk at Selhurst Sports Arena, stopped in Dagnall Park, Croydon, at 4:47 p.m. and said “you are not dressed for the weather” before being stopped. for investigation under the Drug Abuse Act. As the 20-year-old begins to videotape the incident on his phone, a male police officer is heard saying “I just wonder what you are wearing”. “I will wear my own coat,” Mr. Boateng-Taylor replies, asking if the police want to buy him a new one. “I ask what time,” the officer continues. When he says that he is wearing what he wants, another officer asks again why he is wearing a coat and tells him “you are not dressed for the hot weather”. “You are not dressed for the weather, it is very hot, it is hot,” she tells him. “It seems strange,” adds her colleague. After Mr. Boateng-Taylor asks who should tell him how to dress, the police are looking for him. Footage of the incident has been viewed thousands of times on social media. Mr Boateng-Taylor, who described the officers as “laughing like children”, told ITV News London that they had initially refused to tell him their names and IDs. He said he felt violated by the investigation and apologized to the force. He also called on officers to be better trained. Eric Boateng-Taylor was on his way to work when he was stopped Credit: ITV News London “The data is right there in the video,” he wrote. “It will be played in court and we will see if they have the same humor when they are punished. “This incident ruined my whole night, they do not see it.” An apparently upset Boateng-Taylor told ITV News London that the incident made him feel “like a stranger in this country”. A statement from Metropolitan Police confirmed that a man had been taken into custody in Dagnall Park, Croydon, for a drug abuse investigation and nothing was found. He said Mr Boateng-Taylor was “wearing many layers of clothing despite the hot weather” in an area known for drug trafficking and was “hostile” when asked by Crime Violence Officers what he was doing. Chief Detective Lee Hill, Violent Crime Taskforce, said: “We know the material circulating on social media. This shows only a small part of this incident and we would ask people not to rush to judge. “In this case an official complaint has been received and is being dealt with in accordance with the Law on Police Reform.”
