Charing Cross Police Station
(Picture: PA Wire)The Met has accepted a slew of recommendations for an overhaul of its culture after the police watchdog uncovered racist, sexist and homophobic text messages sent by officers.
An Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) probe found evidence of bullying and harassment within the force’s ranks after an investigation into officers primarily based in now-disbanded teams at Charing Cross Police Station.
It said that the shocking texts, which included jokes about rape and domestic abuse, were “not isolated” incidents or a “few bad apples”, and issued the country’s largest force with fifteen recommendations for reform.
On Thursday, Scotland Yard said it had accepted all of the recommendations, which included taking a zero tolerance stance on misogyny and bullying.
It said it was seeking talks with the Home Office and City Hall over whether it should have the ability to review the personal phones and social media accounts of staff on a random or with cause basis to make sure they are not expressing “inappropriate views”.
“This is a contested and complex area, but is again one in need of a national debate,” it said.
Officers also added that it would seek to “lead” a debate on the police misconduct process, amid public criticism that at least one officer involved in the scandal had been promoted afterwards.
“We do not under-estimate the challenge of achieving change in a national system, but a wide debate is needed and one we will seek to lead from London,” said Scotland Yard in a statement.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bas Javid said he was “disgusted” by the officers’ messages, and that it had left many in policing “ashamed and disappointed”.
“While the team involved in this case was disbanded a number of years before the report was published, and the IOPC has recognised that we have already taken steps to improve our culture and standards, it's clear we still have a large amount of work to do,” he said.
"The recommendations are wide ranging and we will use them, along with our existing rebuilding trust plan and our strategy for inclusion, diversity and engagement, to drive forward lasting change that will help improve the public's confidence in the Metropolitan Police Service."
The damning probe sparked calls for an inquiry into misogyny in policing, and hastened the departure of the Met’s beleaguered top cop, Dame Cressida Dick.
Dame Cressida will leave the force on April 10 after losing the confidence of mayor, Sadiq Khan. Her current deputy Sir Stephen House is taking on the role for the interim.
A spokesperson for the Mayor said he welcomed the Met’s decision “to publicly commit to being an anti-racist organisation and to embed a zero-tolerance approach to racism, misogyny, bullying and harassment within both its policies and training”.
“These are important steps forward,” said the spokesperson.
“The Mayor is clear that anyone found to be responsible for sexism, racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, antisemitism, bullying or harassment does not deserve to wear the Met uniform and must be rooted out”.
One of the proposals for widespread reform accepted by Scotland Yard includes a review of training around bullying and harassment and social media.
The force was also told it should commit publicly to being an anti-racist organisation and review guidance to stamp out reluctance to report misconduct over fear of being labelled a “grass”.
Of the fourteen officers investigated in the Charing Cross probe, only two were found to have cases to answer for gross misconduct.
One of those officers was dismissed and the other would have been dismissed had they not already resigned.
Less severe sanctions were applied to several of the officers involved in the case, while four were found to have no case to answer.
The Met said it had taken a number of steps to restore Londoners’ confidence in them before the IOPC issued its recommendations.
Among the measures it said it had taken include increasing the numbers of its professional standards investigators and launching a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
