Baroness Louise Casey arrives at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center in London on Monday March 20, 2023 to attend the press conference to review the Metropolitan Police Service’s standards of conduct and internal culture which was commissioned following the murder of Sarah Everard from a serving officer. (Kirsty O’Connor/Pool via AP) KIRSTY O’CONNOR/AP
The conviction is final: London police have allowed sexist, racist and homophobic behavior to develop within them and on Tuesday March 21 denounce a new independent report and call for a “general reform” of the institution, which is after already in crisis following a series of scandals.
“Police have failed to protect their female employees or members of the public from police perpetrators of domestic violence or those who abuse their position for sexual purposes,” said the 363-page report released Tuesday, which also includes the abuse minorities denounced by officials.
This report was commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old Londoner, who was raped and killed by a police officer, Wayne Couzens, who falsely arrested her in 2021. This murder traumatized the British people.
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The Met Police — the country’s largest police force with more than 43,000 officers and employees — has been embroiled in a string of sex scandals and crimes for years, sparking a serious crisis of public confidence.
A “rigorous” investigation
Calling for a “fundamental change”, the report’s author, Louise Casey, believes the investigation is “rigorous, tough and without complacency”. According to her, violence against women and girls “was not taken seriously in terms of resources and priorities”.
In particular, the lengthy investigation shows how evidence in rape cases (e.g. urine or blood samples) could not be used after being stored in overcrowded refrigerators – sometimes secured with ratchet straps – or outright dismantled.
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In addition, “despite the presence of some experienced senior officers, these are inexperienced and overworked staff dealing with child protection, rape and serious sex crimes,” notes Ms. Casey.
Repeated scandals
The Everard case was followed by several other scandals and reports exposing racism and sexism within the London police force. Eventually, under pressure, Chief Constable Cressida Dick resigned in early 2022.
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The crisis of confidence was further exacerbated when David Carrick, a 48-year-old police officer, pleaded guilty in January to 24 counts of rape and multiple sexual assaults against 12 women between 2003 and 2020. He terrorized his victims by emphasizing his features. The Met then assured that 1,633 cases of alleged sexual assault or domestic violence involving more than a thousand officers and agents over the past decade would be re-investigated.
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Meanwhile, Ms Casey states “not being able to assure” that there are no longer criminals like Wayne Couzens and David Carrick in the ranks of the London police force. She also points out that women police officers are “victims of sexism on a daily basis” and that there is “ingrained homophobia” within the Met.
“The evidence is overwhelming”
“I accept his diagnosis of racism, misogyny and homophobia within the organisation, as well as systemic, managerial and cultural failings,” said London Police Chief Mark Rowley, again offering excuses. “The evidence is overwhelming,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
This new report comes nearly 25 years after the Macpherson Report, which was commissioned following the murder of a black teenager, Stephen Lawrence. The document had sparked “institutional racism” within the police force as early as 1999 and caused shock in the UK.
In October, Ms Casey, who has held several senior posts at the Home Office, presented a first report in which she already denounced the London police’s negligence in the face of racism and sexism.
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