“Shocking” racist, sexist and homophobic messages exchanged by police officers have been published in a watchdog probe that found highly offensive language was dismissed as “banter”.
Details of messages from WhatsApp and a Facebook chat group included references to rape, violence against women, racist and homophobic abuse and were unveiled by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) on Tuesday.
The watchdog took the unusual step of publishing the messages in full – much of the content is too offensive to publish – as it detailed the “disgraceful” behaviour of Metropolitan Police officers based in a now disbanded Westminster team between 2016 and 2018.
Exchanges included multiple references to sexual violence including, “I would happily rape you” and “if I was single I would happily chloroform you”.
In other discussions one officer bragged that he had hit his girlfriend, and told a colleague: “It makes them love you more”, while another boasted that he had repeatedly slept with a prostitute who he met through work.
Homophobic language was also used and a number of racist messages including references to African children, Somali people and Auschwitz.
There were also references to Muslim fanatics and offensive terms for disabled people, and messages about police officers attending a festival dressed as known sex offenders and a molested child.
They were uncovered as part of nine linked investigations into officers based in Westminster, mostly at Charing Cross police station, that began in March 2018 after allegations that an officer had sex with a drunk person at a police station that were later found unproven.
IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: “The behaviour we uncovered was disgraceful and fell well below the standards expected of the officers involved. While these officers predominantly worked in teams in Westminster, which have since been disbanded, we know from other recent cases that these issues are not isolated or historic.
“The learning report we are publishing today is shocking and contains language which is offensive – and some may find it upsetting. However, we felt it was important to provide the context for the public, the Met and other forces, for why such hard-hitting recommendations are necessary.”
The IOPC found that the offensive language was dismissed as banter to hide bullying, and that officers felt unable to raise concerns.
Mr Naseem added: “Our investigation showed the officers’ use of ‘banter’ became a cover for bullying and harassment. Colleagues were afraid to speak out about these behaviours for fear of being ostracised, demeaned or told to get another job.
“The relationship between the police and the public is critical to maintaining the principle of policing by consent. The concerns about behaviour and culture addressed in our report, if allowed to continue and go unchallenged, risked causing serious damage to that relationship.”
Fourteen officers were investigated by the IOPC, and two were found to have a case to answer for gross misconduct – one of whom resigned and one was sacked. Misconduct was proven against another two, one of whom received a written warning, while another four had internal measures to improve their performance.
Deputy assistant commissioner Bas Javid said: “I am angry and disappointed to see officers involved in sharing sexist, racist and discriminatory messages. It’s clear we have a lot of work to do to ensure bullying and discrimination does not exist in any part of the Met.
“The actions of these officers between 2016 and 2018 were unacceptable, unprofessional, disrespectful and deeply offensive. I read their messages with increasing disgust and shame.
“We haven’t waited for the IOPC’s report to take action – a number of officers have been subject to misconduct proceedings, including one officer dismissed and one who would have been dismissed had he not already resigned."
