Home 'Oppose the police bill' badge

'Oppose the police bill' badge

Object

Badge

Production date

1983-1984

Object number

2024.4

Physical Description

Circular metal badge with a black background and a white and red text that reads 'oppose the police bill'. Badge produced by the GLC.

Object history

When a new Police and Criminal Evidence bill was introduced, it came at a time when Hackney communities had years of tensions with local policing and were still reeling from several high profile cases of deaths of residents following contact with police or in while police custody. The increase in police powers including the stop and search, roadblocks, strip searches, and detention without charge, were met with alarm.

Flyers and posters for the ‘Kill the Bill’ campaign referenced the local cases of Blair Peach, Colin Roach, and Stoke Newington. The National Campaign Against the Police Bill was based in Hackney, and used the Town Hall as a postal address. In May 1983, Hackney Town Hall hosted a conference for the campaign (Hackney Archives D/F/JNS/02).

The local campaign, ‘Hackney Campaign Against the Police Bill’ was based at 50 Rectory Road. In addition to spreading the campaign across East London through meetings, the campaign produced a portable photographic exhibition "Policing Hackney" aiming to show the racist practices of the police, the growth in police powers, and examples of community resistance to police harassment.

Associated Organisation

Associated Person

Ian Rathbone (Owner)
Blair Peach
Roach, Colin

Material

Metal
Plastics

Dimension

Diameter (Front): 5.6cm

On display?

No

Inscription

oppose
the
POLICE
BILL
Keep GLC
Working for London