Met the police’s ‘last chance’ and about ‘racism, sexism and homophobia’

An upcoming official review of the Metropolitan Police will find them riddled with racism, sexism and homophobia.

Louise Casey’s report, due to be released on Tuesday, aims to reveal the extent of allegations of misconduct against officers and their internal dealings with them.

Baroness Casey, the government’s Victims Commissioner, was appointed to lead the investigation into the murder of Sarah Everard, serving Met Officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

Police and civil service leaders reportedly described the results as “terrible” and “horrific”.

An official who saw its contents told The Guardian they will firmly move the force to the “last chance drawing room”.

It is believed Baroness Casey will not dismiss cases like Couzens and David Carrick, an officer from the same unit recently found as one of Britain’s worst serial rapists, as one-off “bad apples”.

She will also reportedly argue Met bosses have failed to clarify omissions that have been public knowledge since a 1999 review of the troupe commissioned after the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.

A Met spokesperson said: “We are aware of media reports regarding the forthcoming release of Baroness Casey of Blackstock’s report on the culture and standards of the Metropolitan Police.

“The report will play an important role in informing and shaping our work to achieve more trust, less crime and high standards.

“It will be published next week, which is the right time for us to respond in more detail.”

An interim version of the report released in October found that 1,809 Met Police employees have been repeatedly suspected of wrongdoing since 2013.

Of these, only 13 were fired, Baroness Casey noted, concluding that the force’s disciplinary system was racist and misogynistic.

In many cases, the allegations included sexual assault, domestic violence and harassment, and one officer was allowed to stay on the job despite 11 charges for all three offences.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley admitted the “appalling” results showed hundreds of officers were to leave the force.

Statistics released earlier this month by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) found that less than 1% of more than 1,500 officers and other workers faced complaints about their treatment of women in any period over the past year were released after six months.

A separate investigation by Home Office adviser Professor Betsy Stanko released a report in December that found forces across the country had promoted a culture of “unbelieving victims” of rape.

Prof Stanko, who concluded that ingrained prejudice was part of the problem, has claimed Sir Mark’s predecessor Stephen House referred to the “mass” of rape complaints as “regrettable sex” in a meeting about their findings.

Mr House, who was Deputy Commissioner at the time, said he “categorically denied” the use of the phrase, while attendees at the meeting had mixed memories of whether he did so.

Earlier this month, an LBC poll found four in 10 Londoners trust Met officials.

For women under the age of 35, the number dropped to less than a third.

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