Londoners face a steady stream of Met Police horror stories — violence, misogyny, racism and homophobia among serving officers. In David Carrick and Wayne Couzens, uniformed police committed acts of sexual violence and even murder. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has warned that more scandals are yet to emerge.
Reform is desperately needed. Rowley is certainly saying the right things, unlike his predecessor Dame Cressida Dick. But how actually to change?
The Commissioner must start with outside help. That means external experts on violence against women and girls, race and change management. Then he must reconnect the senior leadership with the rank and file, and ruthlessly weed out the old guard who have propped up failure for too long.
Whether the police are capable of reforming themselves from the inside is a moot point. Both with the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and the disbanding of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, reform was a political project imposed on the police.
The politics, though, are fiendishly tricky. The Met is likely to be sucked into two huge political battles — the mayoral election and a general election — within the next 15 months or so.
The Met has two awkward lines of accountability: to the Mayor and the Home Secretary. With both under the control of different parties, it is hard not to see these contests degenerating into a finger-pointing blame game.
For Sadiq Khan, railing against past failures risks attacking his own record. Yet if Labour come into government, they will have their work cut out. While Sir Keir Starmer did indeed play a role in establishing the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Yvette Cooper hasn’t yet shown any radical instincts.
For the Tories, the lure of attacking Khan’s record on crime might be too great. That could squeeze police reform out of their campaign.
Both sides might give the Commissioner time, but I doubt for long. Sir Mark would be wise to focus on some quick wins.
Any further falls in public confidence in the Met risk undermining the foundations on which our model of policing works, leading to a less safe city.
Nick Bowes is head of the Centre for London
