The report, running to 360 pages, was commissioned following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens. It found the force’s failings go far beyond such high-profile cases.
Baroness Casey determined the Met to be “riven with racism, sexism and homophobia, in the way it treats its staff and the way it polices Londoners.”
Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley denies that these are institutional values within the force, but says he is determined to improve standards: “It is an immense task. I will be able to say to Londoners month by month, quarter by quarter, this is how we are getting better. It has to be a new beginning.
“After a couple of years, there should be a significant scale of change that people are starting to recognise.”
Baroness Casey set out four things the Met can do to restore Londoners’ trust, under the headings of humility, accountability, community and diversity.
“London deserves a better Met,” she writes in the Standard. “The many great Met officers deserve a better Met. The Met cannot be in denial. My report makes clear what its problems are and what must change. With a new policing deal for London — led by the new Commissioner and his team, supported by the Mayor, and informed by the public — that change is possible.”
Can the Met earn back London’s trust? Let us know in the comments or on our Instagram for your chance to be featured on the Evening Standard website.
Yesterday we asked: What makes other countries so much happier than us?
Scott MacCallum commented on Facebook: “Good governance, no class system with its systemic reinforcement, a press that is held to account & effective privacy laws.”
Mark West said: “Quality of life, welfare state greater civility and less poverty and violence. All are in long-term decline in the UK. We have massive poverty and deprivation for so many…”
Rob Shaw picked out one key thing, saying: “EQUALITY leads to a happy culture.”
On Instagram, bigladderphotographer offered two suggestions: “Better weather and a smaller population.”
Another person, areej_of_london, replied: “Work/life balance, stronger sense of community and belonging, feeling rewarded fairly for effort (not just financially) and not having as much day to day hardship and societal anxiety due to instability. Yes government plays a big role, no weather does not.”
But there was just one thing for Its_phoebegrace: “The sun.”
