Senior NI cop slams Met Police over ‘racist’ emoji

Its use to cover black man’s face on social media ‘unbelievable’

A SENIOR police officer from Northern Ireland has criticised the Metropolitan Police for using an offensive emoji on social media in a photograph it posted of a black man.

The force published an image of a black man being stopped by two officers and covered his face with an ace of spades emoji which concealed his identity, along with a post alerting followers of heightened police presence in the Edmonton, north London, area.

“You may have noticed significant police presence” around Edmonton, said the post, published on Thursday.

Andy George, a serving PSNI officer and President of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), said it is “unbelievable” that the emoji was used, given that the word “spade” is a well-documented derogatory slur for black people.

Posting on X, he said: “Unbelievable that an Ace of Spades was used to cover the face of a Black person stopped by police.”

The incident comes after the Metropolitan Police was found to be institutionally racist in a recent report by Lady Louise Casey, which was commissioned in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer.

It also comes after a number of investigations into black people for using emojis and other imagery to make political points.

Michael Morgan, social commentator and content creator, said: “The institutionally racist Met Police love to arrest and charge us over emojis we use and placards we hold.

“It’s been a while since anyone has dared call me a spade to my face. Imagine seeing this in 2024. I’m livid.”

The Met Police deleted the post and issued an apology on Friday.

“We apologise for several posts which appeared on this account last night,” it posted through one of its local branch Twitter/x accounts.

“An inappropriate emoji was used and we know this has caused offence. We are speaking to the officer involved and professional standards colleagues.”

The “spade” slur dates back to at least 1919. Linguistic experts have written extensively about how the term is derogatory towards black people, steeped in racist comparisons between the symbol’s black colour and black people’s appearance.

This criticism of the Met Police follows concern regarding highly publicised police investigations into black and Asian people’s use of online images, such as a raccoon emoji and Daffy Duck GIF, across social media.

When approached for comment, Chief Inspector Rob Gibbs, who is responsible for neighbourhood policing in Enfield, said: “We apologise for a post which appeared on Enfield social media accounts on Thursday evening.

“An inappropriate emoji was used and we know this has caused offence. We are working hard to raise standards and build trust with our communities.

“We understand this has not been to the standard that you or we expect. We are speaking to the officer involved.

“This matter has also been shared with professional standards colleagues to advise on next steps.”