Amnesty argues Gangs Matrix is "not fit for purpose"

A report by Amnesty International argued that the London police's Gangs Violence Matrix is racially discriminatory, incompatible with international human rights law, and not fit for purpose.

The report found that 78 percent of the individuals on the Gangs Matrix were Black, which was disproportionate to both London's Black population (13 percent) and the percentage of Black people responsible for serious youth violence (27 percent). 

It also discovered that 40 percent of people listed had  no record of involvement in violent offenses in the past two years, and 35 percent had never committed any serious offence.

In addition, Amnesty accused London's Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) of unreasonably conflating youth culture with crime, poorly defining the concepts of "gang" and "gang member", leading to the arbitrary identification of individuals and to stigmatisation and other negative consequences.