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The Metropolitan's Police’s controversial database breaches human rights and discriminates against young black men using grime music as proof they are in gangs according to a damning report.

Amnesty International revealed young black men are being tainted by appearing on a secretive database without even knowing they're on it.

Their report into the ‘Gangs Matrix’ reveals serious problems with the tool used by the Met to track gang membership which was hastily set up in response to the London riots in 2011.

Police officers revealed they use youngster’s Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts and YouTube, particularly grime music videos that contain gang names or gang signs to place people on the database.

(Image: MET Police)

Rhyhiem Barton, who became the 62nd person to be killed this year, featured in a Tim Westwood YouTube “drill” music video - a genre of rap associated with glorifying violence.

While the mum of Corey Junior Davis, a 14-year-old killed mowed down in a deadly turf in Newham, East London in September last year, has told how a rap song and videos mocking his death appeared online.

(Image: PHILIP COBURN) (Image: SWNS.com)

Keisha McLeod, whose son’s killers have still not been caught, told how some of those featured masked men making gun gestures and boasting of shooting enemies.

But Amnesty argues in Trapped in the Matrix, that the police are confusing musical references to gang names and violent lyrics which simply reflect elements of urban youth culture and identity with serious crime.

Police gather information including history of violent crime, entries on social media and information from bodies including local councils to identify gang members, then use a secret algorithm to calculate a risk of harm score set on a traffic light scale.

(Image: Birmingham Post and Mail)

But the report issued a damning verdict on the system's respect for individual rights.

It said: "Amnesty International believes that the Gangs Matrix is unfit for purpose: it puts rights at risk, and seems not only ineffective but also counter-productive.

"Systems for gathering and sharing intelligence on individuals suspected of violent crime must be fair, implemented in accordance with human rights law, and have robust oversight mechanisms."

The report argued that the police must dismantle the matrix "unless they can demonstrate that it has been brought into line with international human rights law, in particular the right to non-discrimination".

Following the research the data watchdog has confirmed they are examining the database, which contains details of 1,500 people who score zero for risk of violence.

(Image: PA)

Of those on the list 78% are black, disproportionate to the size of the black popuation in London, at 13% of while only 27% of violent youth crime in the capital is committed by black people.

Amnesty International’s Kate Allen said: “There is clearly a huge problem with knife crime violence at the moment in London, but the Gangs Matrix is not the answer.

“It’s part of an unhelpful and racialised focus on the concept of gangs. Put simply, it’s the wrong tool for the wrong problem.

“It’s not only unfit for purpose but likely detrimental to the purpose.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

“The entire system is racially discriminatory, stigmatising young black men for the type of music they listen to or their social media behaviour, and perpetuating racial bias with potential impacts in all sorts of areas of their lives.

“Some police officers have been acting like they’re in the wild west, making the false assumptions that they can set up fake profiles and covertly befriend people online to monitor them without needing the appropriate search warrants.

“The Mayor of London needs to dismantle the Matrix unless he can bring it in line with international human rights standards.”

It comes after a spate of bank holiday violence taking the tally of teenagers who have been killed in the capital since Christmas to 15.

ICO Deputy Commissioner for operations, James Dipple-Johnstone, said: “We are in contact with the Metropolitan Police Service as part of an investigation into their use of a ‘gangs database’.

(Image: REUTERS)

“As part of this, we’re considering how the database is used and if any aspects of it constitute a breach of the Data Protection Act.

“At the conclusion of our investigation we will communicate any resulting recommendations and enforcement actions.”

Amnesty also called on the influential Commons Home Affairs Select Committee to investigate the use of police gang databases across the country. It is understood that officers in Nottingham, Manchester and Birmingham gather similar information on gang links.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “The style of music that someone listens to has no bearing on whether someone is placed on the matrix.

“However, evidence that someone is glorifying gang violence in a music video posted on social media can be used as an intelligence source.

“In relation to suggestions of potential racial disproportionality of the matrix, the MPS has actively engaged with David Lammy MP, Amnesty International and the Information Commissioner’s office to help understand the approach taken, and we remain committed to ensuring the safety of all Londoners, and especially those most at risk from gang and other violent crimes.”

Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Sophie Linden, said: “The Mayor is doing everything he can to protect young Londoners from becoming caught up in crime and violence. He committed to reviewing the Metropolitan Police Service Gangs Matrix in his Police and Crime Plan and in his Knife Crime Strategy for London. That review is currently underway and will report back later this year.”

(Image: PA)

David Lammy MP said: “Why are young black men from the same neighbourhood automatically slapped with the gang label whereas the Bullingdon Club are not a gang?

“As this report demonstrates, the indicators used by the Metropolitan Police in identifying ‘gang members’ merely reflect elements of urban youth culture and identity, and this conflation of certain aspects of urban youth culture and violent criminal activity is highly racialised.

“This has resulted in a policing tool that essentially involves the profiling of urban young black men as gang members and violent criminals, which in turn has a serious impact not just on the life chances of these men but also for trust in the police and relations between communities and the police in parts of London like Tottenham.”