During the past few years I have increasingly heard the phrase "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear", stated by a number of (mostly white, male), politicians and/or essentially well-meaning so-called members of the "establishment elite".

Sadly, to be even remotely accurate in making this bold (and dare I say it morally and legally correct statement), one must add the proviso "assuming you are not of African-Caribbean descent, male and live and/or work in inner city London"!

Kids Caught On Camera

Cops provoked a furious outcry after they admitted building a photo database of innocent children.

Community leaders in the London Borough of Lambeth were furious after learning that officers were taking pictures of their children without permission

Police initially defended their actions saying it was "a tactic to combat robbery, street violence and gang crime", but days later they performed a u-turn by ditching the cameras

Cheryl Sealey, a member of the Lambeth Community Police Consultative Group (LCPCG) welcomed the move. She told New Nation "Photographing our young people is criminalising them. They were taking us back to the days of the Stop and Search (SUS) laws. I'm glad the police have now seen sense."

Scotland Yard documents seen by New Nation show concern about "overt policing" has been an issue since 2004. Fifty-two per cent of all people whose images were captured in London are black, with two thirds aged between 14 and 22.