STUDENTS have expressed concern about potential changes to the way police deal with young people on the streets.

A group from Waltham Forest College in Forest Road attended an event at City Hall to discuss proposed changes to ‘stop and account’ procedures.

Currently officers must fill out a form explaining why a person has been stopped and questioned on the street.

But under new proposals, Met officers will no longer have to provide a record of the encounter.

Students criticised the plan during a meeting attended by Met police commander Tony Eastaugh and Doreen Lawrence OBE, mother of murdered Stephen Lawrence.

Engineering student, Shilpesh Patel, 18, said, the proposed changes would be unfair and unjust.

He said: “I think it’s very important that police continue to give receipts, as it is ultimately proof that the stop and account actually did take place.

“By taking it away means that the police would no longer be held accountable for their actions.”

Fellow student, Jessica Lima, 16, said: “I didn’t really know a lot about the policy beforehand, so the event was a definite eye-opener.

“But listening to the discussion today, I think it will be unfair if the changes are brought in, and people, especially young people, will only continue to get more distrustful of the police.”

The event on May 11 was also attended by Dr Richard Stone OBE, a member of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, and representatives of youth organisations around London.

The Metropolitan Police Authority is running several programmes across the city as part of a public consultation, which ends on June 8.

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