Messages declaring “I would happily rape you” and jokes about domestic violence are among the alarming cases of sexism, racism and misogyny that expose the shocking state of the Metropolitan Police.
The examples were uncovered in the Casey report which called for a “complete overhaul” of the force and a “new approach to restore public trust and confidence”.
It found the Metropolitan Police has failed to protect the public from officers who abuse women, organisational changes have put women and children at greater risk and female officers and staff had routinely experienced sexism.
In a 363-page report published on Tuesday, Baroness Louise Casey found that violence against women and girls has not been taken as seriously as other forms of violence.
It also found that there is widespread bullying in the force, with a fifth of staff with protected characteristics – such as race, sexuality or disability – reporting they had been targeted.
Below are some of the most harrowing examples of sexism, racism, homophobia and misogyny uncovered in the report.
Sexism
One female officer, referred to in the report as L, was sexually assaulted at work on multiple occasions by a senior male officer. L said the officer frequently touched her on “intimate parts of her body” and masturbated in front of her while changing in the communal changing rooms, and forced her to sit on his lap.
On one occasion, he forcibly started to undress her while they were on duty together and only stopped when a member of the public drove past. After months of sexual assaults in the workplace, L reported the officer to a sergeant but nothing was done and his behaviour continued.
The review also heard from a gay female officer, B, who worked in a response team when she reported a male officer after he told her his “balls were cold” and requested that she should “warm them up” as they worked together alone on a night shift. After refusing, she said he turned cold and would shout at her in front of colleagues, undermine her in front of members of the public and make her sit in the back of the police car.
Another female officer said male colleagues were “sex obsessed” and would openly rate female colleagues and members of the public on their appearance. She said younger female officers were “traded like cattle” and moved to different units depending on which male officers found them attractive.
The review also looked at the content of messages shared by officers which revealed sexist language. Below is one exchange from a group of officers:
Officer 1: “You ever slapped your missus?”
Officer 1: “It makes them love you more. Seriously since I did that she won’t leave me alone. Now I know why these daft c***s are getting murdered by their s****** boyfriends. Knock a bird about and she will love you. Human nature. They are biologically programmed to like that shit.”
Officer 2: “Lmao.”
Another exchange included remarks about rape:
“I would happily rape you.”
“If I was single I would actually hate f*** you.”
“If I was single I would happily chloroform you.”
Racism
The review also found institutional racism within the force and noted that Black and ethnic minority officers are “consistently overlooked” for jobs and promotion. When they are promoted, they’re told it’s only because of “diversity quotas”.
A senior officer recalled being asked in a large meeting of officers in 2022: “Did you get to where you got to because you are Black?”
Meanwhile, a former senior officer recalled how they were often stopped and searched before and after joining the force, calling the experience “humiliating”.
Another officer said he had been stopped and asked for ID on “multiple occasions” inside police stations.
“I understand the need for security but the amount is abnormal. I have been mistaken for a lawyer or FME [force medical examiner] or a prisoner (despite being in suits) on numerous occasions and on one occasion I was actually reviewed by an inspector in custody, who thought I was a prisoner he had to complete a PACE [Police and Criminal Evidence] review on!” the officer said.
The report also revealed the Met’s racist views toward members of the public.
A Black female officer told how she was with a more senior officer when they intercepted a white female member of the public buying drugs from a Black person.
She said the senior officers called the white woman a “n**** lover,” a “slag,” and a “dirty woman”. The Black female officer said it left her feeling like she wanted to resign.
Homophobia
As with Black and ethnic minority officers and staff, LGBTQ+ officers and staff spoke of the openness with which negative comments were posted on the intranet.
“There are comments after intranet articles, along the lines of ‘why can’t we just get on with the day job, why do we have to care about bi-sexual people?’” one officer said.
Another had a picture of her partner put up as a “poster girl” in a local office by male colleagues because she was attractive.
“My response team were obsessed with my sex life. They’d ask ‘are you a giver or a taker’ – this would be out in the open ... I would laugh it off. I wouldn't want to cause any grief. You just would not ask somebody that. You would not ask a heterosexual man that question. It's just offensive,” the officer said.
Gay women would be asked questions such as “who’s the man in the bedroom?” or “what percentage gay are you?” They were asked whether they are “up for a threesome”, and asked whether they were “chatting up” members of the public when speaking to them as part of their job.
Misogyny
A Met employee told the review of her experience when she tried to anonymously report a colleague for making repeated inappropriate, misogynistic and prejudiced comments. These included making jokes about female victims of rape and sexual offences, speaking in support of extreme far-right groups and occasions where he had intimidated women in the office.
The officer was forced to wait months with no update all while working in the same building as him.
After three months, when she requested an update, she was told that a “no case to answer” decision had already been reached without being communicated to her.
Senior officers were also said to “prey on the vulnerability of new recruits” and would make comments such as: “A new recruit needs to have slept with a substantive officer before they complete their probationary period.”
Senior female officers would also be told that they had slept with different people to get a promotion.
One officer said: “We were all required to introduce ourselves and to state what team [we] were on as an ice breaker. I stated that I was on a particular team and one of the male members of the group asked me, “Who did you have to f*** or suck to get that job?”
She said the entire group laughed and no one challenged the comment.
