If the Met can’t get rid of the rotten apples in the police force, we’ll have to fell the tree
The findings of the Casey Report on the internal culture at the Metropolitan Police are as stark as they are brutal.
Most of us who have been campaigning for change won’t be surprised.
After all, the report was commissioned following the sadistic rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer.
It reveals institutional sexism, racism, homophobia and abuses of power.
It says that London’s women and children have been left behind.
It goes further, saying that de-prioritisation and de-specialisation of public protection has left women in more danger than was necessary.
Far from being dealt with, discrimination is now ‘baked into the system.’
The findings are clear, and that’s why it was so disappointing to see Commissioner Mark Rowley refuse to agree that misogyny, racism and homophobia are institutional.
The Report found that discrimination was so baked into the system that Black officers who filed internal complaints are likely to have those complaints turned against them. How can he not accept this problem is institutional?
Whenever there’s another revelation surrounding the police I think about Mina Smallman, the mother of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, both brutally murdered while celebrating a birthday in my borough.
Serving police officers at the scene took photos, posting them on WhatsApp groups with other officers with dehumanising captions.
We’ve been campaigning for all the officers in that group to be exposed and not just the two who have received a prison sentence.
It’s nearly two years to the day that I laid flowers at the memorial for these two beautiful sisters, Bibaa and Nicole, whom the police failed to properly search for after they went missing.
It would be too easy for me to reel off the litany of errors in this and other cases, and the pain Londoners have experienced at the hands of the Metropolitan Police runs very deep indeed.
The Casey Review exposes failings in every department examined, including recommendations that some should be effectively disbanded.
That is precisely why, in my Metro.co.uk column, I repeatedly called on the former Commissioner, Cressida Dick, to resign.
What’s important now though is what we do next. We need to turn the pain people have experienced into something profound, meaningful, and that delivers lasting change.
I welcome that the new Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, accepts the findings of the Casey report without equivocation.
Acceptance is the first step on the journey to change. Next, he has to act on those findings.
He must reflect on what has been detailed in the report, and what must be implemented so that we can tackle the institutional racism, sexism, homophobia and more that clearly thrives in the force.
And he must rethink his refusal to use the term ‘institutional racism.’
Up until now, I’ve been impressed with his approach. I urge him to change this stance.
The Met, already in special measures, must start implementing Louise Casey’s recommendations immediately.
If it doesn’t, I fear it will no longer be fit for purpose and become a further risk to the public, the people it was founded to serve, and will no longer be able to police by consent, something many Black Londoners have been raising concerns over for decades.
There are things the Casey report details that police can implement immediately, to start the process of rebuilding policing by consent and restoring trust.
There is a separate review looking at vetting issues, but the report is clear that current procedures are unacceptable and must be made more robust.
I believe that not only should every serving police officer previously accused of sexual or domestic violence be re-vetted, but every serving officer.
We must root out those serving officers that are members of WhatsApp groups including racist, sexist and violent messages.
We used to be told that it was just a few rotten apples. This report confirms what many of us already knew – that the rot has spread to the whole tree.
We are faced with many cases, each as horrifying as the next, from ‘Child Q’ to the allegation that former Acting Met Commissioner, Sir Stephen House, referred to rape complaints as ‘regretful sex.’
It’s also clear to me that these aren’t just issues faced by the Met and we should be honest about that.
Last year an Observer investigation revealed half of all English police forces failed to meet the required standards for investigating crime.
Despite talking tough, the government has failed to maintain recruitment levels and standards.
Suella Braverman’s response to this report has inspired no confidence. The Tories are not listening to the concerns of MPs or the public.
This isn’t the first report to show change is needed, the McPherson Report was produced over 20 years ago and yet forces are still falling short in implementing some of his recommendations.
Make no mistake, this too is a systemic political failure. And as much as we must change the Met, so too must we take a good hard look at the government.
By following the blueprint of reform set out by Baroness Casey, we can start to restore trust and the concept of policing by consent.
Not only would this make the public safer, it would ensure good officers can work in an environment where they no longer witness and suffer from racism, sexism and homophobia daily from those rotten apples.
If we cannot, it may be necessary to fell the entire tree.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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