Former Sky Sports presenter reveals "traumatic" impact of being stopped and searched by police at age 11
Broadcaster Jaydee Dyer shares “dehumanising” experiences of being repeatedly detained for no reason in new documentary film.
Stop and search – the police power to detain a member of the public in order to search them – has been a source of acute tension between the police force and minority communities in the UK for decades. Regarded by some as an important tactic for preventing crime and confiscating weapons and drugs, historic overuse of stop and search to target Black men in particular has led to deep mistrust and created a legacy of trauma.
In a new short film, former Sky Sports presenter Jaydee Dyer reveals he has been detained, searched and questioned by police officers many times in his life. Where I Can See Them explores the impact of stop and search through a blended genre of movement and documentary – and will premier exclusively for readers of The Lead next month.
The first time it happened, Dyer was just 11 years old.
“Afterwards, everything changed” he tells The Lead. “We were no longer five little boys walking home from football, now we were three Black boys and two white boys. The difference in how we were treated by the police was so stark.”
By age 21, Dyer – who now presents for TNT Sports, the NBA, the Premier League and the Olympics – had been stopped and searched more than 10 times. He says he was “roughhoused”, put in headlocks, and treated with aggression and violence – despite never having done anything wrong. One of the most notable incidents happened years later while driving, when he was forced off the road by three riot vans and interrogated.
“Each time felt like an out of body experience. I felt like I was watching myself,” says Dyer. “It is degrading and dehumanising to be treated in that way. You are reduced to a stereotype before you even have the opportunity to open your mouth.
“We carry that pain, unconsciously, every day.”
Where I Can See Them, devised by Olivier Award nominated director Lanre Malaolu and funded by the BBH ‘Differently Does It’ short film scheme, explores the emotional and psychological effects of stop and searches on Black men. While Malaolu has never been stopped by police himself, it is something he has watched many friends go through, which he describes feeling as “second-hand trauma”.
“Any time I walk down the street as a human, as a man, as a Black man, and I see a police officer, the physiology of my body changes,” Malaolu tells The Lead.
“We trap stories in our bodies. My work is about getting into the body and finding ways to tap those stories out.
“This film is about getting to the truth in a different way. It is to say to young and older Black men: I am here, I exist, I am alive, and I can breathe out.”
Dyer’s experiences of being stopped by police began more than 20 years ago, but the problem is pervasive. The latest recorded figures show that stop and search still disproportionately impacts Black men. In the year ending March 2023, there were 24.5 stop and searches for every 1,000 Black people, compared to just 5.9 for every 1,000 white people. Around 33 per cent of all stop and searches were in London, but this issue extends beyond the capital – Merseyside had the highest stop and search rate overall, and Cumbria had the highest number for the Asian ethnic group.
“There is a systemic problem of racism in the police. If this was a case of ‘bad apples’, of just one or two officers abusing this power, then there wouldn’t be this discontent and lack of trust that I still prevalently see in Black communities, like where I grew up,” says Dyer.
“Their job title is ‘to protect and serve’ and I have never felt that in my life. I have been in situations before where I could have done with some help, and it never occurred to me to call 999. That is really telling. There is so much mistrust.”
There is little comfort for Dyer that his career and position in the public eye now affords him a privilege that he didn’t have growing up. The last time he was stopped by police, the officer recognised him from TV and, Dyer says, the whole interaction changed.
“It shouldn’t matter,” he says. “Just because I’m known or a so-called ‘celebrity’, that shouldn’t change how you treat somebody. As soon as they knew who I was the aggression level decreased. I often think about how the outcome of those scenarios could have been so different.”
Sharing his story for this film has been transformative for Dyer. He has started going to therapy for the first time, and he is finding ways to come to terms with the lasting trauma of his lived experiences.
“Watching the film back, I felt sorry for myself in a weird way,” Dyer explains. “I couldn't believe that was me. I think it was the start of my acceptance of everything that had happened, and a moving forward.
“I felt fresher and lighter after watching it. For the first time, I felt seen and I felt heard – which is the complete opposite of how you are made to feel by police when you are detained and searched.”
Where I Can See Them will premier in The Lead next month. Paid subscribers will also receive an exclusive podcast episode featuring Malaolu and Dyer discussing their motivations for making the film, and more detail on Dyer’s experiences with the police. Make sure you’re subscribed so you can listen to this, and to be one of the first to watch the film in full.■