The abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021, at the hands of a serving Metropolitan Police officer, truly shocked the nation. It was this that prompted me to be appointed to review standards and culture in the Met, on which I publish my final report today. In the meantime we have seen another serving Met officer convicted as one of the country’s most prolific rapists.
I am genuinely sorry to say, because I am fundamentally pro-policing, that it is a deeply disturbing picture. I have found a police force that is failing women and children; that has withdrawn from the front line; that is institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic; and that is unable to police itself from the very worst wrongdoing.
This is a terrible state of affairs for a police service to be in. Bluntly, it cannot be our job as the public to keep ourselves safe from the police. It is the job of the police to keep the public safe. The murder of Sarah Everard and the shocking abuse of power by a multiple rapist Met officer, have utterly shaken women’s confidence in policing in London.
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I completely understand why they feel that way. I have been appalled by what I have discovered. About the decision to downgrade the public protection of women and children; the shocking state of rape and serious sexual offences services, domestic abuse services and child abuse services; and the terrible irony of all this happening while the language of tackling violence against women and girls has been ramped up.
Many black Londoners have been telling us about their concerns with the Met for years. Sir William Macpherson made a finding of institutional racism in the Met in his report into the Stephen Lawrence case nearly a quarter of a century ago, but not nearly enough has changed since.
It doesn’t mean that everyone in the Met is racist, but there are racists in the Met. Their abuse is not confined within WhatsApp groups either, but out in the open. There is also bias in internal Met systems, and in the policing of London, such as the over-policing and under-protection of black communities. My report shows that these forms of discrimination are present with regard to sexism and homophobia too.
In essence I offer a very simple test: would a black man, a gay man or a woman receive the same or worse treatment in or from the Met than a straight white man?
To those who say that institutions can’t be racist or sexist, only individuals, I disagree. If not racist, how else would you describe an institution that is 81 per cent more likely to discipline you if you are black than if you are white. Or do you believe that black officers are actually 81 per cent worse at their jobs?
If not sexist, how else would you describe an institution where more than 10 per cent of women report directly experiencing sexual harassment at work, but where allegations relating to sexual misconduct are even less likely than any others to be upheld? Or do you believe that they’re all made up?
So the Met must now face up to and accept its challenges if it wants to win back the consent of its public to police them. Defensiveness, denial and splitting hairs about definitions will get them nowhere.
My report has held a mirror up to the Met. Now is the moment for it to take action. The future of policing, and the public’s permission to police them, depends on it.
