THE Metropolitan Police faces being broken up, a report warns today.
Britain’s biggest force was labelled institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic and in need of radical reform.
The report was compiled by Baroness Louise Casey of Blackstock who spent more than a year shining a light into what she called the “dark corners” of the Met and its culture and standards following the murder of Sarah Everard by firearms officer Wayne Couzens.
She also called for the disbandment of the armed protection unit on which Couzens and serial rapist David Carrick both worked.
She said the London force’s firearms command was a boys’ club riven by bulling and sexism.
Baroness Casey also admitted she could not “sufficiently assure” people there were not more predators in the Met like Couzens, and Carrick, who was named as a rapist and abuser on nine occasions.
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Her report said the Met’s misconduct system was “not fit for purpose”, adding it was incapable of running its own disciplinary cases.
Baroness Casey expressed disappointment that, 25 years after the Macpherson Inquiry report labelled the Met institutionally racist, not enough change had resulted.
The report also concluded that the London force, now headed by Sir Mark Rowley, was failing women and children, with frontline policing and public protection suffering amid a chronic shortage of resources.
Inexperienced officers were overburdened by large caseloads and the de-prioritisation of public protection “has put women and children at greater risk than necessary”.
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One officer told the Casey review: “If you look at our performance around rape, serious sexual offences, the detection rate is so low you may as well say it’s legal in London.”
It says the Met repeatedly claimed that violence against women and girls was a top priority but officers told a different story, with one saying: “You don’t want to be a victim of rape in London.
“Anyone who relies on policing in London for anything I’m scared for.”
Baroness Casey painted a picture of chaotic investigations into rapes and serious sex crimes.
Officers on Sapphire rape teams relied on “over-stuffed, dilapidated or broken fridges and freezers” instead of fast-track forensic services to keep evidence and staff lunch boxes were even left lying next to evidence.
One female officer told the review fridges were so full it would take three officers to close them, with one to push the door close, another to hold it shut and one more to secure the lock with bungee rope.
The officer said that in last year’s heatwave one freezer broke down and all of the evidence inside was destroyed.
She also said she had lost count of the number of times she had asked a colleague where the necessary evidence for cases was before being told it had been lost.
Baroness Casey told a news conference yesterday that the broken fridge was “symbolic of an organisation that has lost its way”.
She added that Met claims to be taking violence against females seriously rung hollow, adding that its services to women and children were unforgiveable.
Baroness Casey said yesterday: “If it cannot be changed or fixed then we should revisit.
“If they cannot get it right then we probably need to split the Met up but I do think they can reform it.”
She said it was horrific that more than a fifth of Met officers and staff had experienced bullying — with the figure rising to a third for disabled and LGBT employees.
One gay Met officer told the review he was so scared of homophobic bullying he avoided walking past police stations and officers on his way to and from work.
The report also tells how a Sikh policeman had his beard cut for a joke and bacon was left in a Muslim officer’s boots.
One male recruit was sexually assaulted in a shower as part of an initiation ceremony and female officers made to eat a whole cheesecake until they were sick, said the report.
It states: “We have found widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism, and other unacceptable behaviours…”
Baroness Casey said in a foreword to her report: “Policing needs to accept that the job can also attract predators and bullies.”
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She made 16 key recommendations, including creating a dedicated women’s protection service.
The 363-page report was commissioned by former Met chief Dame Cressida Dick.
CHANGE ‘IS ON WAY’
MET boss Sir Mark Rowley has refused to call the Metropolitan Police institutionally racist, sexist or homophobic.
Responding yesterday to findings in Baroness Casey’s review, the commissioner insisted: “I am not going to use a label myself that is both ambiguous and politicised.”
However, Sir Mark said he accepted the Met had “systemic failings, management failings and cultural failings”, adding: “I understand use of the term institutional.”
But he stressed: “It’s not a term I use myself. I’m a practical officer.”
The Met boss, who took over the force from Cressida Dick six months ago, also dismissed warnings it could be broken up.
Promising the report would lead to “meaningful change”, he said reforms were already under way.
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