Duggan death reduces trust in UK police

The fatal shooting of Mark Duggan has reduced trust between black Londoners and the police, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has admitted.

“The death of Mark Duggan … led to a significant reduction in trust between London’s black communities and the Metropolitan Police,” Hogan-Howe said in a statement released after the conclusion of the inquest into the killing of the black man, whose death sparked days of violent protests across England in 2011.

On Wednesday, eight of the ten London High Court jurors ruled that British police officers acted lawfully when they shot the unarmed man through the chest in the northern London neighborhood of Tottenham.

The verdict sparked public criticism and infuriated Duggan’s family. His relatives also pledged to keep up the fight for justice.

“The majority of the people in this country know that Mark was executed. We are going to fight until we have no breath left in our body for Mark and his children,” said Duggan’s aunt Carole Duggan.

People gathering outside the court cried “no justice, no peace” when Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley was reading a statement to defend the armed officers responsible for Duggan’s killing.

However, Hogan-Howe admitted that Scotland Yard must do “much more” to be trusted after the killing of the 29-year-old black man.

He also confirmed that firearms officers will start to wear video cameras in an attempt “to increase transparency.”