14 January 2021 — Institute of Race Relations
At a time when the Metropolitan police has had to concede more oversight of pre-arrest handcuffing, we publish the first ever investigation of the new Violence Suppression Units (VSUs), introduced without fanfare at the start of the pandemic in London. In the past, criticism has been levelled at the use of similar specialist squads like the SPG and the TSG in multicultural working-class neighbourhoods. Now, Jessica Pandian questions whether the introduction of VSUs heralds the Americanisation of gang policing, pointing out that suspicion of gang affiliation could be used more systematically, as it is in the US, to justify deportation decisions.
The New Dark Age 