Police in England and Wales have lost public trust over the last decade, with confidence in policing declining across several measures since 2015. Five years on from the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving London Met police officer, Met commissioner Mark Rowley says he understands why women still do not trust the UK’s largest force.
Everard’s murder and the lack of police investigation into violence against women and girls more generally is just one example of why trust has dipped. Other reasons include use of stop-and-search that disproportionately affects black people, and independent reviews finding that police organisational culture in the Met and other forces is institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic.
