Police Accused Of Racism At Urban Music Events

Police have been accused of discriminating against the urban music scene at live events, according to a new report released today (January 9).

The Guardian reports that a booking agent with the urban music scene has told them that police are undoubtedly racist in the way they judge security measures. 

The agent, who remained anonymous, said: "It is definitely racist, it is definitely not fair. The problem is that it reverberates through young people, they go to different types of events, they see that at indie events they are not treated like this. It just antagonizes them."

As part of Form 696 bookers and promoters must disclose whether an event "will predominately feature DJs and MCs".

Chair of the culture, media and sport committee in the House of Commons John Whittingdale has called for the abolition of the "discriminatory and completely unnecessary" Form 696.

Speaking about the 696 forms, he said: "Form 696 is discriminatory and completely unnecessary. It is still being used by the Met (Metropolitan Police) to target particular types of music".