Hunting The Invisible Man

After yet another horrific attack on the streets of London, the Metropolitan Police are appealing for our help in finding the suspect. Unfortunately they refuse to give us the tools we need.

Last night twelve people, including five police officers and a three-year-old child, were injured by a corrosive alkaline liquid in a vile attack in Clapham, South London. The attacker, who police are calling a “dangerous individual”, is still at large as I write this. Despite being chased down the street by courageous bystanders, he managed to escape. Superintendent Gabriel Cameron of the Metropolitan Police said the perpetrator and victim “are known to each other”, suggesting that it’s some sort of domestic violence incident, but added that the attacker is dangerous and “we urgently need to find him.” The Met is now appealing on X (formerly Twitter) for the public to help find him.

But they won’t tell us what he looks like!

Obviously it’s not as if they don’t know what he looks like, is it? At least one of the victims knows who he is, and can give a description. Five of their own officers got close enough to him that he was able to splash them with corrosive liquid, so they can give a description. Several local people chased him down the street; they can give a description too. It’s clear, from the facts that have been released so far, that there are multiple people who were within feet of the attacker and can describe what he looks like, which I’m sure we’ll all agree is essential information if the police want us to help find him. So where is the description?

It’s clear from the response to the Met’s appeals on X that there’s a degree of cynicism about this. Almost every response to their post asked for a description of the attacker; some went further, stating that as no description had been provided “he’s not native”, or just “we know why”.

Rightly or wrongly, there’s clearly a widespread belief that if the police don’t release a description of a suspect we can assume they’re from an ethnic minority. The police themselves are contributing to the growth of this belief; after all, when a man was slashed in Southwark last December the Met didn’t hesitate to provide a description of the attackers:

When the police are already under fire for two-tier policing, with special treatment given to minorities, religious extremists and the far left, the perception that we only get a description of a suspect if he’s white is not helpful. We’re already at the point where, if no description of a suspect is given, a large number of people simply assume they’re not white. Is this helpful for race relations? I don’t think so.

So, Metropolitan Police, give us a description of the Clapham attacker - or stop asking us for help, and find him yourselves.