U.K.’s Biggest Police Force Is Institutionally Sexist, Racist And Homophobic, Report Finds

Topline

London’s Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic and is failing to protect both its own staff and members of the public from predators in its ranks, according to a scathing independent review published Tuesday, adding pressure for major reforms amid dwindling public trust following a series of scandals.

The Metropolitan Police is institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic, a report found.

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Key Facts

The U.K.’s largest police force fails to protect women and children, has allowed bullying, discrimination and predatory behavior to thrive internally and must be drastically overhauled to regain public trust, concluded the 363-page report from Baroness Louise Casey.

The report, which the Met commissioned after one of its own officers kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in 2021, described a pervasive and misogynistic “boys’ club” culture—which persisted despite women holding leading positions at the force, including the previous commissioner—and a “worrying level of complacency” about the risks posed to staff and public by “predatory” officers.

The report outlined a catalog of abuse, discrimination and bullying, including bags of urine being thrown at cars, competitions on how often male officers could make female students cry, an officer who “groomed” a victim of domestic abuse, an officer who was “coerced into a sexual relationship” by a more senior colleague, a Muslim officer who had bacon shoved in his shoes and two Sikh officers, one of whom had his beard cut and another who had his turban put in shoe box (“because they thought it was funny”).

It also outlined failings in how reports of abuse and bullying were investigated internally, as well as basic procedural blunders ruining sensitive investigations for crimes like rape, for example one officer ruining an entire fridge full of evidence by storing their lunch in it, numerous instances of simply losing evidence and the poor state or packing of fridges “ruining evidence.”

The report also identified racial disparities in how cases are tackled, including in the way it addressed broad issues of systemic bias and in how officers—predominantly white men, most of whom “do not live in the city they police”—police people of color, with a disproportionate number of Black children subjected to intrusive intimate searches and higher rates of Black people being stopped and searched.

Casey said her report is “unsparing” and urged the force to make a “complete overhaul” before it completely and irreversibly loses public trust.

Crucial Quote

“It is not our job as the public to keep ourselves safe from the police. It is the police’s job to keep us safe as the public,” Casey said in the foreword to the report. “Far too many Londoners have now lost faith in policing to do that. Many Londoners, particularly Black Londoners, never had it to begin with. I completely understand why they feel that way.”

What To Watch For

If the Met cannot be fixed and “sufficient progress” towards reform isn’t made, Casey said officials should consider “dividing up” the force. The Met covers far more than just local policing in London and carving out segments could enable it to better focus its attention on local policing. In addition to policing the British capital, the Met also leads a national counter-terrorism unit. The unit has faced scrutiny for years and faced calls to move from the Met to the National Crime Agency, one of Britain’s most important crime-fighting agencies and a rival to the Met in terms of power and influence.

Contra

Sir Mark Rowley, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, apologized for the force’s manifold failings outlined in Casey’s report and said the incidents it outlines are “unacceptable” and “appalling.” Rowley added that he is determined to root out “toxic” individuals who remain in the force. He did, however, push back on Casey’s determination of an “institutional” problem, a term he said is ambiguous and politicized.

News Peg

The report follows a series of scandals at London’s police force that ignited nationwide debates over policing in Britain and ignited concerns over misogyny and discrimination in the capital’s police force. The murder of Everard by a serving officer, as well as the Met’s handling of subsequent public vigils, catalyzed this report. Pressure was further intensified by the revelation that another officer in Everard’s murderer’s unit was a serial rapist who had terrorized women for decades. Recent investigations have unveiled more than 150 officers being investigated over sexual misconduct and racism and the force’s chief on Tuesday admitted it could “not guarantee there were no serving officers who had been found guilty of domestic abuse or indecent exposure.”