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November 29, 2013
Almost £666,000 in compensation has been paid out by Scotland Yard to settle racism claims.
The majority of the payouts, which were made between 2009 and 2013, were out-of-court settlements.
A total of £196,355 was paid to 23 Met officers, police staff and community support officers who brought employment tribunal claims against the force. The remainder was paid to 33 members of the public before court proceedings got under way.
The figures were revealed by Mayor Boris Johnson’s office, nine months after Andrew Dismore, a Labour member of the London Assembly, first asked for them.
Mr Johnson said that any incident of racism was “one too many”.
Mr Dismore said: “By keeping these cases out of the public eye, other members of the public or police employees who have been subjected to racism may not be aware that they have the option to formally complain.”
A Met spokesman said: “Where we believe we, or one of our officers, has been in the wrong we will accept responsibility.”