The government is cracking down on youth crime. Fine, says teenager Matt Scott, but don't pick on me….

Wednesday May 8, 2002
The Guardian

I'm a 16-year-old attending a comprehensive school in Camden, north London, and I agree that more police presence is needed on the streets, especially in certain areas. It is also true that it is usually a small group of people who cause most of the trouble. The police have to learn that not every teenage boy is a criminal.
Every day as I walk out of school, a police van passes me slowly by and eight feds stare me up and down until I feel the size of one of their badges. My friends and I don't think we look like criminals and we wear clothes we feel comfortable in: Nike hooded jumpers, caps, jeans or tracksuit bottoms. We do not mug people, we do not steal phones, we do not do graffiti, and most of us are still at school. And since the cannabis laws were relaxed, we feel even less guilty in the eyes of the law. On average, however, I'm stopped and searched by police once a week, along with most of my friends, more frequently if we are in a big group (they love humiliating all of you).
We all know the drill. Some people are more lippy to the feds than others, and some people are really scared and say nothing, but it doesn't make any difference to the way they treat you. Some police are all right - the ones who listen to you and don't shout and who let you speak - but they are very rare. We would be much more likely to want to help them find the real troublemakers if they didn't automatically assume we were all breaking the law.
Last week, for example, after buying some records on Camden High Street, a friend and I took a short cut along the canal. Just before we approached the exit we realised two uniformed officers were chasing us. As we turned the corner up the stairs, we were confronted by another four officers. "All right lads, what you been up to? Got anything on you you shouldn't have?" one male officer shouted aggressively. They have a way of looking down on you, always trying to make eye contact. I really don't want to look into any policeman's eyes. Then they went on questioning us, demanding, "Have you been smoking? Is that your phone? How did you get this £30?" Then they said, "You are going to be searched on suspicion of car robbery." How would we be robbing cars on a canal at lunch time? Then we were searched for about 10 minutes while being frowned upon by the pedestrians and crackheads of Camden. The officer ran his fingers all over my body, practically ripped my pockets out, shouting at me. "Are you still at school?" he asked. I said, "Yes, I'm doing A-levels at Camden School for Girls." Then they all laughed and he said, "So you go to a girls' school. I've never heard that one before. I wish I'd gone to a school like that." You'd think, as a Camden police officer, he'd know that Camden School for Girls has a mixed sixth-form. All the time the drug dealers of Camden were watching, but the police would rather waste time on trying to arrest us than have to deal with them.
At night, you're even more likely to be stopped. At about 2am one Saturday night I was with a friend outside his house in Crouch End. We decided to get some sweets and drinks from the B2, a shop which is open all night, just four doors down. As we crossed the road to go home a police van pulled up next to us and several officers jumped out wearing bulletproof vests. They threw us against the wall, squashing our drinks and ruining our pick'n'mix selection, shouting, "Don't move, don't talk. We're going to search you because you fit the description of two youths we're looking for." It took us an hour to get home, even though we explained that my friend lived close by and we showed them his house keys.
They have to do a name check on their walkie talkies which takes for ever, because it takes so long for the person on the database to call them back to confirm that you are who you say you are. They also like standing there and looking at you in silence for a while before they let you go.
In north London parks, there are always undercover police officers who are easy to spot. They come up and show you their badges, but they will move off if they see you're not doing anything. One lunchtime in the holidays I was with three friends in a park in Archway and one of them went to the public toilet while I went to a shop to get some drinks. As we met up again outside the park entrance, a police van pulled out and two officers confronted us.
"Ever been in trouble before? Committed any crimes today, boys?" said one.
"What were you doing round there at the toilet entrance?" asked the other. He then pointed at some old graffiti. "You're going to be searched on suspicion of criminal damage."
We were then searched on the main road, supposedly for pens and paint. Our bags and pockets were emptied and thrown down on the ground. He got the drink out of my bag and threw it; it burst and sprayed all over the floor and my jeans.
"I just bought that and I hadn't opened it," I protested.
"And?" he replied. I said nothing - he wasn't exactly going to buy me a new one.
Again, the police did the name checks, didn't apologise and, once they'd finished, told us to "fuck off".
And they say adolescents have an attitude problem.