Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick (PA)
(Picture: PA)The Met Police has been hit with fifteen recommendations by the police watchdog after vile behaviour was uncovered in a probe, including racist, sexist and homophobic messages.
The IOPC probe found evidence of bullying and harassment within the force’s ranks after an investigation into officers primarily based in now-disbanded teams at Charing Cross Police Station.
However, it said it believed the incidents “are not isolated or simply the behaviour of a few ‘bad apples’” at the country’s biggest police force, and the Independent Office for Police Conduct has issued the Metropolitan Police with a series of recommendations to overhaul its culture.
Some of these include tackling bullying and harassment in the force, which the IOPC found “pervasive evidence” of, and suggested that the Met implement metrics to demonstrate that improvements are being made to tackle this issue.
IOPC investigators also found evidence that “highly sexualised and/or violent and discriminatory” messages were often shared between officers and were generally described as ‘banter’ by officers in their defence – and suggested Met officials should review training and guidance on the appropriate use of social media.
The probe also found that the Met needed to publicly commit to a “zero tolerance” position on sexism and misogyny and take steps to eradicate it from the police force.
What do you think of some of the recommendations listed above? Do they go far enough to tackle the issues given what the IOPC found? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below for the chance to be featured on the ES website tomorrow.
