At the 17 November 2021 Police and Crime Committee meeting, the Deputy Commissioner said that the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) did not want to be the ‘culture police.’ How is the MPS ensuring that it treats drill music in a way that is proportionate and does not stifle cultural expression?

Any form of music can have a profoundly positive impact, particularly on the lives of young people, often giving those making it something to focus on; growing out of their experiences and environment.

In relation to drill music videos, the aim of the Met is solely to prevent serious violence on the streets of London by identifying and removing content in videos which incites or encourages gang violence. The Met continue to work to better understand the reality of the links between online activity and real-world, offline offending and links to criminality. The Met work closely with all social media companies to act quickly to remove the most harmful material; those that contain a threat to another group or individual which could escalate to real-world violence. This does not involve a trawl of all drill videos, but is instead led by content referred, or which the Met becomes aware of through gang-associations.

Close partnership working is a key part of how the Met address this going forward, and the Met will continue to work with a range of partners to explore how they can effectively tackle the issue.