The mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence has claimed Scotland Yard has “no intention” of changing despite a damning report exposing a culture of racism, sexism, bullying and homophobia.
Met Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick was put “on notice” this week by Mayor Sadiq Khan following the exposure of highly offensive WhatsApp messages sent by officers from a now disbanded team based at Charing Cross.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct report made a series of recommendations and warned: “We believe these incidents are not isolated or simply the behaviour of a few ‘bad apples’.”
Baroness Lawrence told the Standard: “The Met has a record of saying they are sorry when their wrongdoing comes to light.
“It is easy to say sorry but then it is ‘business as usual’. Unless they are sanctioned and those involved are named and shamed their behaviour will carry on. The public have a right to know who is policing them and that they are safe and able to trust the police at all times.”
Her 18-year-old son Stephen was murdered in Eltham in 1993. The original police investigation was hindered from the start amid allegations of racism and corruption. The 1999 Macpherson report into his killing labelled the force “institutionally racist” and made a number of recommendations.
Baroness Lawrence added: “The fact that not all of the recommendations from the Macpherson report have been implemented shows that the Met has no intention of reforming itself.”
Mr Khan has warned Dame Cressida she is one scandal away from being ousted during a “frank” discussion that lasted over 90 minutes on Wednesday.
He was unimpressed by the Met’s plans to address the massive loss of public confidence and root out rogue officers. A spokesman for Mr Khan said: “He made clear how angry he is with a return to the bad days of the Met of his childhood in the Seventies and Eighties, and that neither he nor Londoners will put up with this.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel, who has joint responsibility for appointing the Met commissioner, told MPs on Wednesday she has concerns about leadership failures at the Yard which extended to “all levels”.
The Met has apologised for the conduct of its officers at Charing Cross.
The IOPC took the unusual step of publishing the graphic messages from its report into the behaviour of officers at Charing Cross police station. It found they routinely exchanged sexualised, violent and discriminatory messages that they later defended as “banter”.
Officers referred to a colleague as “mcrapey raperson” and casual references made about domestic violence included an officer saying he had “backhanded” his partner.
One boasted about beating up his girlfriend, saying: “It makes them love you more.” Others made jokes about Auschwitz, disabled and gay people.
A review of culture and standards in the Met is currently being carried out by Baroness Louise Casey.
Public confidence in the Met was already battered in the aftermath of the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Met officer Wayne Couzens last March.
Baroness Lawrence’s intervention came after Mina Smallman, the mother of two murdered sisters whose dead bodies were photographed and shared by policemen guarding the scene, asked how many times Dame Cressida would apologise before she “exposed the rot”.
