Inside Met Police's 'boys club culture' as force branded institutionally sexist
The future of the Met Police is now under review as a damning report finds institutional racism, sexism and predatory behaviour is rife in London's police force.
"We have found institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia in the Met," the damning review by Baroness Louise Casey said.
Contained in the review was the harrowing testimony of one officer who said she was repeatedly raped by a colleague and tried to kill herself.
Another was sexually assaulted by a more senior male colleague on a number of occasions and made to "sit on his lap, touching her on intimate parts of her body while she was getting changed".
Other cases include lewd sexual comments, inappropriate advances and a failure to deal with rape cases due to the attitude of some officers and a lack of resources.
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One officer said one of the Met's specialist units - Specialist Firearms Command (MO19) - was a "boys club".
A series of scandals has already rocked the force relating specifically to the culture of misogyny and a number of sickening examples were laid bare in the report.
The abuse of 'A'
Case studies presented in the report included that of 'A' who was a victim of domestic and sexual abuse. She alleges it was at the hands of a fellow officer known as 'X' and he raped her repeatedly.
In the "the worst and final incident," A alleged X "smacked me round the face, I lost consciousness, he raped me.
She added: "I had a black eye, a split lip."
Leading up to the incident were repeated failures as the case was passed between six separate investigators, all part of the Met's misconduct team, who each asked her to give her account of what happened.
"I had tried to kill myself that year because of the police investigation," A said. "It was draining the life out of me."
Baroness Casey found the Met to be 'institutionally sexist and misogynistic' (PA)She struck up a relationship with X during one of her initial postings and he was arrested for assaulting his ex-partner.
Eventually, X's violence turned towards A, who said she felt she couldn't come forward because of how the abuse of he ex-partner was handled.
Shockingly, A said the abuse against her was an "open secret" among her colleagues, but that nothing was done until one colleague finally complained.
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"The officer who subsequently questioned her about it was friends with X," Casey's review said.
'Unwanted sexual attention'
"Women are subjected to unwanted sexual attention from the outset of their careers," the report said.
'Officer L' was repeatedly sexually assaulted by a more senior male colleague.
He masturbated in front of her in a communal changing room and forcibly undressed her in a patrol car.
The male officer would "frequently touch her inappropriately; forcing her to sit on his lap, touching her on intimate parts of her body while she was getting changed".
Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens was a Metropolitan Police officer (PA)
Metropolitan Police Constable David Carrick, 48, was jailed for dozens of rape and sexual offences against 12 women (REX/Shutterstock)Casey's review said that some senior officers blamed new recruits for bringing misogynistic and sexist attitudes into the force, but that their findings contradicted this assessment.
One officer said they had seen substantive officers "preying on the vulnerability of new recruits."
"[They think] they are being funny by making comments such as 'A new recruit needs to have slept with a substantive officer before they complete their probationary period,'" they said.
Another said: "When a woman joins the police or is new to borough or team, they are immediately targeted by men competing to sleep with them."
"Prolonged psychological and sexual abuse"
A failure to deal with sexist attitudes and predatory behaviour was discussed at length in the report.
Among case studies cited in the review was a Met Officer who was "groomed and coerced into a sexual relationship by a more senior officer".
'Officer F' said she suffered "prolonged psychological and sexual abuse" and that this took place in the workplace.
F complained her senior officers did not take her complaints seriously when she reported the abuse after ending the relationship.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy previously said the Met has a 'huge amount to do to earn trust to rebuild it' (PA)After she raised her concerns, F said officers from the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) tried to discredit her, using a video of her twerking as a means to accuse her of lying.
Another officer, 'Officer H', complained of racism and misogyny against her that culminated in her ending a relationship with a senior officer.
The case study said: "When she tried to end the relationship, she says he made a number of malicious allegations against her which led to her being arrested and put through the misconduct system, and used his personal connections in the unit to make sure that she was alienated from the team."
Another particularly grim case involved a married male officer who repeated inappropriate advances to his colleague.
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When the officer was told "where to go" by the female, she said he "made it his business to scupper my work".
She added: "My friend said to me recently about him: 'he wasn't just obsessed he was your stalker.’"
After another officer complained that, in an incident witnessed by her sergeant that involved unwanted touching, she was told to "Just stay out of his way".
Lack of resources destroyed evidence of rape cases
In the year to September 2021, only 1.3% of rape cases recorded by police countrywide resulted in a suspect being charged.
Casey's review found evidence that a lack of resources meant some evidence was destroyed.
In the case of 'Officer G', she said that evidence would be packed in freezers that weren't big enough to hold key bits of evidence including swabs, blood, urine and underwear.
Freezers would be so full that "it would take three officers to close them".
Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick was blamed by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan for failings identified in Baroness Casey's report (PA)Horriginy, about Officer G, the report added: "In the heatwave in 2022, G said that one freezer broke down and all of the evidence had to be destroyed because it could no longer be used.
"G said a general email had been sent round to this effect and that it meant that all those cases of alleged rape would be dropped."
Failure to deal with comments by fellow officers
Among the testimony given by officers serving in the force were grim examples of male police officers using their position to make lewd comments about the success of their female counterparts.
One officer said they had heard jokes made "by both male and female officers about how a female has got to where she is and who she slept with to be there".
They added: "We were all required to introduce ourselves and to state what team [we] were on as an ice breaker. I stated that I as on a particular team and one of the male members of the group asked me, 'Who did you have to f**k or suck to get that job?'"
Sarah Everard's killer Wayne Couzens was known as 'The Rapist' by colleagues in a previous job (PA)Officer G also testified that there were "deeply concerning attitudes held by some officers who worked on investigating rape and sexual offences".
She said a male officer apparently needing advice on a case proceeded to describe an incident between two people as if it was happening between the two officers.
G said: "He actually said 'if I put my d**k in your arse, you said ‘ow’ you were screaming and I stopped because you were screaming is that still a rape?"
Sexism in the Met - conclusions
"The Review finds the Met to be institutionally sexist and misogynistic," the report concluded.
Casey concluded her review of sexism in the Met against the backdrop of previous scandals including the abduction rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021 by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens.
A vigil held in the Clapham area of the capital was then met with a response that was "out of touch and lacking empathy," Casey said.
Further scandals included two officers photographing and circulating images of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman amid a slow response to their disappearance.
Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were stabbed to death in a London park - two Metropolitan Police officers shared photos of their bodies (SWNS)An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) probe then revealed a culture of racism, homophobia and misogyny among certain officers, including at now-defunct teams at Charing Cross Police Station.
Casey's review said: "These displayed sexist and misogynist views glorifying violence and hatred against women."
In January this year, armed Met officer David Carrick, known as 'B*****d Dave', admitted to 71 sex offences committed over the course of 20 years.
Baroness Louise Casey (centre left) arriving at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, London (PA)In response to the report, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: "It is clear that there have been serious failures of culture and leadership in the Metropolitan Police."
London mayor Sadiq Khan said the evidence in the report is "damning".
He said: "Baroness Casey has found institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia, which I accept. She has described the Met as defensive, resistant to change and unwilling to engage with communities."
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer added the scale of changes needed was "vast" but that reform "can be done".
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