The Met police is a rotten boys’ club. That’s according to Louise Casey’s damning review of its culture and standards, which has unearthed institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism at its very core.
I wish I could say I’m surprised. After 30 years of service, I feel a deep sense of injustice knowing that police leaders have been unable or unwilling to face up to problems that have been staring them in the face for decades.
The head of the Met, Sir Mark Rowley, says he feels “embarrassed” and fully accepts Lady Casey’s findings. And yet he refuses to say the force is “institutionally racist”, which exposes the scale of the challenge ahead. At a critical moment to show humility and understanding, the Met is returning to old patterns of insularity and defensiveness. This is the very culture highlighted by Casey that needs rooting out. Rowley’s inconsistency should raise serious question marks over his willingness or ability to clean up the force. After all, how can you change a culture that you refuse to see?
The sheer scale of the issues highlighted in the review struck me profoundly. The 363-page report details story after story of disturbing abuses at the hands of police officers. Stories of bullying, sexual violence, discrimination and intimidation perpetrated by those who are tasked with keeping us safe; of recrimination for those brave enough to whistleblow. My heart breaks for my colleagues for what they have endured, and for all those who have never been able to share what has happened to them.
There is a weariness and exhaustion in knowing this fight must continue, because, of course, there have been landmark reviews before. Both the Scarman report in 1981 and the 1999 Macpherson inquiry exposed institutional racism within the Met. But none have been quite so damning, comprehensive and well-evidenced as Casey’s review. It should now be simply impossible for police leaders and politicians to ignore her findings.
But whether there is the political will and the staying power to fix what is broken is another question. A political leadership that cares passionately about reforming the force will be a critical factor in whether Casey’s review can produce the change it argues for with such conviction.
To restore public confidence in policing, the Met must challenge the systems, processes and beliefs that form its very identity. For too long, predominantly male police officers have been given the benefit of the doubt – serious offences written off as a lapse or a bad day – while victims, from fellow officers to members of the public, continue to be routinely dismissed, marginalised and ignored.
The Casey review lays bare just how difficult it is to be believed by the police. And just how biased the system is in favour of the police. Even for colleagues, it is virtually impenetrable. This cannot continue. We need to see a fundamental change in the mindset and understanding of the officers investigating sexual offences and each other.
The Met must now accept help and admit that it does not know best by opening its doors to experts outside the organisation who care passionately about good policing. Victim care must become an absolute priority.
Rooting out not just a few bad apples but many who have been sheltered and enabled by a systematic and insidious culture that allows them to hide in plain sight will take time. There are many tactical interventions that would be helpful, such as making independent advocates part of the service to help support individuals who are making complaints about officers.
Other changes could be implemented quickly at a local level. Changing how the Met advertises for new recruits, what it looks for and how it selects candidates, could radically shift the vision of policing from one of guns and action to one of service and empathy. The scale of the challenge needs a strategic, driven focus. Whether senior leaders are able to recognise the rot will decide the Met’s – and policing’s – future.
Sue Fish is a former police officer who served as Nottinghamshire’s chief constable from 2016 to 2017
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