Smiley Culture, Famous For 80's Reggae Hit "Police Officer" is Dead After Incident With Police

British Reggae artist and DJ Smiley Culture (real name David Emmanuel)  who scored two chart hits in the Eighties is now dead following an incident with police.


Culture, born and raised in South London, is the son of a Jamaican father and South American mother. In 1985 he became the first British MC to have a hit on the charts when he dropped the popular track "Police Officer" (video BELOW).

It is reported Smiley Culture is believed to have stabbed himself after officers raided his home in Warlingham, Surrey, earlier today however Britain's Independent Police Complaints Commission confirmed they were now investigating his “death following police contact”.


Smiley released his first single Cockney Translation in 1984 but was best known for Police Officer which was a Top Twenty hit and earned him two performances on BBC music show Top of the Pops.

Emmanuel had claimed the song, a light-hearted take on police attitudes to black people at the time, was based on his own experience of being let off by officers when caught with a spliff after recognising who he was.