1 - The Street

Programme Outline

Item 1 – Stop and Search

Drama. A house is broken into and the young offenders run away. The police are called. Ray and Sunil, leaving school in high spirits, are messing around and chasing each other down the street. They are stopped by a couple of police officers who have just received notification of the crime through their radios. The officers question Ray and Sunil in connection with the robbery. Ray gets angry and they are both taken to the police station.

Documentary. In-house lawyer Mohammed Zeb tells Shiela of his own experiences of being stopped and searched and stresses the need to stay calm and co-operate. Inspector Dulton McConney gives the police position, while John Wadham, the director of civil rights campaigning group Liberty, provides a different perspective.

Item 2 – Neighbour Conflict

Drama. Kevin’s friend comes round to practise their DJ routines for the dance nights they host. Next door, Mal is trying to put her two young children to bed while the music thumps through the wall. Mal’s husband comes home and, incensed to find his family’s lives disrupted yet again, goes round to get Kevin to turn the music down. He is confronted by Evie, Kevin’s protective mother, and threatens to get them both evicted.

Semi-drama. The conflict between Kevin, Mal and her husband is resolved by real-life mediators from Southwark Mediation.

Documentary. Mediation is a technique for resolving conflict and is rapidly gaining ground as a way of dealing with situations that would otherwise involve the law. Adam Pero, a young mediator and up-coming professional footballer, tells us how he became involved in mediation.