Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley
(Picture: PA Wire)Scotland Yard’s first black police officer says new chief Sir Mark Rowley needs to be “bold” to clean up the scandal-hit force.
Retired detective sergeant Norwell Roberts, 76, wants to see a zero-tolerance approach towards officers who are racist, sexist, homophobic or corrupt.
Mr Roberts, who joined the Met in 1967, suffered horrific racial abuse detailed in his new book, I Am Norwell Roberts, released just before Black History Month.
Since taking over Sir Mark has vowed to be “ruthless” in tackling wrongdoing in the ranks, admitting: “I think we have been too forgiving of it in the past.”
For Mr Roberts, most of the racism happened at Bow Street police station, later amalgamated into Charing Cross, where officers were caught exchanging vile WhatsApp messages decades later.
He told the Standard: “Mark Rowley has to mean what he says. If you’re going to root something out like racism, just do it. Be strong. You’ve got to be bold to gain the respect of your men and women. It was hard at the time for me and I think I handled it just about right. I couldn’t talk to the sergeants or inspectors — no one would listen to me.
Penning his book “brought back stuff I’d rather not remember”, said Mr Roberts, “I’m writing about 1967 and it’s the same stuff in 2022, what have we learnt?
“When my sergeant said: ‘Look you n*****, I’ll see to it that you won’t finish your probation’, well I had news for him. I get more comfort looking back and laughing at what he said than I did at the time.”
The Met has been rocked by a succession of scandals. The latest involves the disclosure by a whistleblowing ex-police officer that he had been part of a Whatsapp group in which officers had posted offensive messages.
They included “extremely unpleasant” references to black politicians, jibes about the recent lethal flooding in Pakistan, the repeated use of the “P” word and misogynistic exchanges.
The former officer who allegedly set up the group, Rob Lewis, has been arrested. Speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight, Sir Mark said officers will be removed for “ghastly acts,” adding: “We rebuild our integrity by firstly getting rid of the people who are undermining it.”
Mr Roberts said one of Sir Mark’s priorities must also be solving crime and getting officers on the beat.
