The London police are institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. This is the conclusion reached by an independent investigative report that was published last night. The Metropolitan Police (Met) have failed to protect women from sex offenders in uniform, according to Louise Casey, who was hired to write the report. She urged the Met to make sweeping changes.
“It is not our job as a public to protect ourselves from the police. It’s the job of the police to keep us citizens safe,” Casey said. “Far too many Londoners have lost confidence in the police.”
Police have been in crisis for years
The Met has not emerged from the crisis for years. The case of Sarah Everard is symbolic. The fact that a police officer kidnapped the 33-year-old in March 2021 using his service ID and then raped and murdered her deeply shook the police’s reputation.
But even after the perpetrator had been sentenced to life imprisonment, new scandals kept coming to light. As recently as February, an officer who served in the same unit as the Everard killer was sentenced to decades in prison for having repeatedly raped and abused a dozen women over a period of nearly 20 years. The murderer and the serial rapist in uniform are by no means isolated cases, as Enlightener Casey made clear.
“Female civil servants and employees are routinely confronted with sexism and misogyny,” it says. “The Met has not protected its women employees or members of the public from perpetrators in the police force who use domestic violence, nor from those who abuse their position for sexual gain.”
Racism and homophobia are also big problems
The agency is also institutionally racist, Casey said. This means that the situation has hardly changed since an investigation in 1999. After all, there’s a “deep-seated homophobia” at the Met, Casey said. Her report was “drastic, strict and relentless”.
London’s chief police officer, Mark Rowley, who has been at the head of the Met for six months, is now more responsible than ever. Since taking office, the Commissioner has made it clear that he will crack down on corrupt and violent police officers. He wouldn’t be surprised if two to three officers end up in court every week, Rowley said in January.
