Isabel Jackson
On the 5th of June, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme that the ‘systemic sexism, racism, homophobia, discrimination and misogyny’ in the Metropolitan Police needs to be urgently addressed.
Khan said the Met Police Force has ‘real problems’ and that ‘trust and confidence’ are ‘going downwards.’ He argued that “too many people in our city haven’t got the confidence they should have in our police force.”
This is not the first time Khan has expressed a loss of confidence in the Met Police. Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick resigned in February, following Khan’s claims that the “scale of the change required” in the force is only achievable with “new leadership right at the top of the Metropolitan Police”.
The IOPC Report
“The officers’ use of ‘banter’ became a cover for bullying and harassment.”
Khan’s claim in February that ‘deep cultural issues’ permeated the ranks of the Met Police resulted from the IOPC’S Operation Hotton Report findings, which revealed a series of discriminatory messages exchanged by police officers on Whatsapp and Facebook between 2016 and 2018.
The messages included jokes about domestic abuse and the rape of women, the killing of black children, and jokes mocking disabled people, ethnic minorities and the Black Lives Matter movement. Several of the messages also contained homophobic language.
In 2022, the investigation behind the IOPC’s report found the officer’s use of ‘banter’ became a cover for bullying and harassment. They claimed this created a culture of fear, with people being “ostracised, demeaned or told to get another job.”
Met Police Inquests
In December of 2021, an inquest into the death of Stephen Port’s victims found “fundamental failings” in the police’s handling of the investigation. The victims’ families believe that homophobia played a role in the decisions made by the police.
The jury found fault in “insufficient leadership”, however, was not asked to consider if prejudice, homophobia or discrimination contributed to the victims’ deaths.
“Racism played a role.”
In the same month, furthering the controversy surrounding the force, Met Police officers Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were sentenced to two years and nine months. In June 2020, the two officers had photographed and shared images of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.
The incident aided the defence of the murderer due to the officers’ contamination of the crime scene. The mother of the two women also suggested that racism played a role in the inadequate action of the police when Henry and Smallman were initially reported missing.
https://twitter.com/SadiqKhan/status/1537785694587854850?s=20&t=pQLQeJyMbaLh90Z_GRm7TA
Sarah Everard Case
The rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021 by serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens also significantly decreased public trust in the police force.
In response to this loss of trust, the Met Police have advised that people detained by a lone plain-clothes police officer ask “searching questions” to ascertain why they are being stopped and ensure the officer is genuine.
“Women were forced to the ground and arrested.”
Further conflict arose at the vigil for Everard, where Scotland Yard prosecuted six attendees after numbers at the protest increased and officers present feared the event had become ‘anti-police’ protests. Women were forced to the ground and arrested, as the hostility between the attendees and officers in light of Everard’s murder intensified.
The vigil, organised by the campaign group Reclaim These Streets, had been blocked due to Covid-19 restrictions. This decision has since been ruled unlawful by the High Court as a breach of rights to freedom of speech and assembly. The High Court described the ‘chilling effect’ of police statements on the situation at the vigil.
Couzens has since been linked to two previous allegations of indecent exposure and was part of a Whatsapp group which shared misogynistic content. Met Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave admitted that vetting checks on Couzens were not executed correctly when he joined the Met in 2018.
Featured image courtesy of the Metropolitan Police. No changes were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
