The police watchdog is to investigate a melee outside a school where officers and youths clashed after an attempted stop and search. The incident happened close to Park View school in Haringey, north London, on Tuesday afternoon, and police say three of their officers received injuries. All four males were aged 16 and were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency service worker. One black male is understood to have received facial injuries during the arrest, and was taken to hospital and later discharged. Part of the incident was caught on a mobile phone camera and the video shared on social media. The Metropolitan police urged the community not to rush to judgment and a small march took place close to where the incident took place on Friday afternoon. Protesters claimed the incident was another alleged example of excessive use of force by police, with video appearing to show an officer throwing a punch during a scuffle. It is not obvious from the video whether the punch struck the youth the officer was trying to detain. The Met said it was investigating how its officers received their injuries and has referred the clash to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The Met said: “Officers from the North Area Basic Command Unit stopped a group of males outside a school in West Green Road, Haringey. One of the males was detained for the purpose of a search. A crowd formed and officers made a circle around the male. “During the incident three officers suffered injuries. Four males, all aged 16, were arrested and have been bailed to return to a north London police station on a date in January.” Community and police relations are currently tense in the Haringey area, and historically have at times been toxic. The incident follows months of claims that the Met has been racially profiling and targeting black young males for stop and search. The Met denies this and says its stop and search use is designed to tackle violent crime. Det Ch Supt Treena Fleming, the local police commander, said: “I am aware of videos circulating on social media showing part of the incident and we are working to establish the full circumstances of what occurred. “A criminal investigation is under way to ascertain how the officers received their injuries and welfare support is being provided to them. “A public complaint has been received and we recognise the community concern around this incident, so we have made a voluntary referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. The IOPC has taken the investigation as independent. “It is important to remember that videos show a snapshot in time and the wider context is not immediately obvious. I would ask that our communities allow us the time for the incident to be reviewed in full so that all the circumstances can be established.” Investigators from the IOPC are expected to view any video footage from mobile phone cameras as well as from body-worn video from the officers involved.