London Metropolitan Police (Met), the UK’s most important law enforcement agency. institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic, according to an independent report.
The document, in charge of the official Louise Casey, was commissioned in 2021 in the case of Sarah Everard, a young British woman. kidnapped, raped and murdered by agent Wayne Couzensfrom the Met, in March 2021.
The investigator is of the opinion that this power must even be dismantled if the situation does not improve.
The City of London no longer has an “operating neighborhood watch” while problems are particularly acute for ethnic minoritiesaccording to the report.
“Our job as citizens is not to keep ourselves safe from the police. The task of the police is to protect us. Too many Londoners have lost faith in the police,” Casey said in the document.
The report states that violence against women and girls is not taken as seriously as other forms of violence and that bullying is widespread throughout the body.
Female officers and staff face sexism and misogyny
“Women officers and staff regularly face sexism and misogyny. The Met failed to protect its employees or members of the public from domestic violence police officers.nor those who abuse their position for sexual purposes.”
While the Met says violence against women and girls is a priority, it is treated differently than more aggressive forms of violence, he adds.
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“In practice, this means that the allocation of resources was not taken so seriously,” he says.
Since this investigation was launched, the case of agent David Carrick, convicted of a series of rapes, sexual assaults and torture of women.
The Met’s chief curator Mark Rowley said he accepts the results of this in-depth investigation, but not the institutionalized term because it has a political connotation.
“It’s scary. You sit down and read this report, and it causes a lot of emotions. It breeds anger, frustration, shame,” he admitted.
Confidence in the Met was ‘greatly damaged’
After the report became known, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the network on Tuesday. BBC that the credibility of the Met had been “greatly damaged”, but stressed that change was already underway.
“I know the police commissioner is committed to this, he is committed to making a change. Some changes are already taking place. All police forces are again checking all their employees in the base,” he added.
This, in turn, was announced by the mayor of London, Labor Sadiq Khan. BBC what today “one of the darkest days in the history of our Metropolitan Police“.
“If the public does not trust the police, They’re not going to come forward and report a crime.. They are not going to come forward and witness a crime to secure a trial, they are not going to come forward to join the police,” he added.
“So it’s in the interest of all of us to make sure the police service changes,” said Khan, who last year forced the resignation of then-commissioner Cressida Dick, robbing her of her credibility due to a lack of measures to combat machismo and racism. in the police. (EFE)