A city councillor of a black and minority ethnic background was arrested after going to his local police station to report a crime because officers were searching for a suspect who “looked like” him.
Afzal Shah, a Labour councillor in Bristol, has questioned if white colleagues on the police and crime panel he sits on would have been arrested in the same circumstances.
Avon and Somerset police have apologised but said officers were acting in good faith when they arrested Shah.
A constable from the same force will be tried next month for allegedly shooting one of its race relations advisers with a Taser electronic weapon.
Shah, who represents the Easton ward – scene of the Taser incident – described how he went to the Trinity Road police station to report a crime. He said that instead of taking his statement, officers believed he was a person suspected of making threats of violence – and read him his rights.
He explained that he was a local councillor and was in council meetings when the alleged crime he was being arrested for took place. He said, however, that this was ignored.
There are no custody cells at Trinity Road but he was placed in the back of a secure police car in the public car park outside the police station. Police realised they had the wrong person and de-arrested him.
Shah told Bristol Live he still has unanswered questions about the incident, and police have not explained exactly what happened to him and why they acted how they did.
He said: “I went to the police station to register a crime on behalf of someone else. I found myself arrested for making threats, but I was nowhere near the place this is supposed to have happened, I was in a council meeting.” After he was freed he claimed police told him that the person they were looking for had a similar appearance to him.
“I was told it was a misunderstanding, and that the person who they were looking for looked like me. They said we had a description similar to yourself.”
He continued: “I want clarity from the police, and I’m also taking legal advice. It’s been extremely serious. Given that I went in to report a crime, what then transpired was unbelievable.”
He added: “During my time as a local Labour councillor – including as a member of the region’s police and crime panel – I have worked hard to build bridges between communities in Easton and our local constabulary.
“I sincerely doubt that many of the other councillors who sit on the police and crime panel would have received the same treatment which I did.”
In a statement, Avon and Somerset said: “Police have apologised to a man for the inconvenience and distress caused when he was arrested and detained in a police car after being wrongly identified by a victim as one of the perpetrators of a crime.”
Superintendent Andy Bennett said: “Officers acted in good faith in arresting councillor Shah at Trinity Road police station after another man who was in the station reporting an offence visually identified him as one of the people involved. This identification was later found to be incorrect and Shah was released without having been taken to a custody unit.
“We are extremely grateful for Shah’s contribution to community policing both as a councillor and as a member of the police and crime panel. We have apologised to him for the distress and embarrassment this incident has clearly caused him and welcome this opportunity to clarify this publicly.”
Judah Adunbi, a former member of an independent advisory group to Avon and Somerset police, was allegedly shot by an officer with a Taser stun gun in Bristol last year. A video of the incident was widely shared on social media and made headlines around the world.
Police constable Claire Boddie, of Avon and Somerset police, has denied common assault and her trial is due to be heard by deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram next month.
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