Hard on the heels of Louise Casey’s interim report on failures at the Met leading up to Sarah Everard’s murder comes another damning verdict on British policing. A review of eight forces from the watchdog for England and Wales concluded that a culture of sexism and predatory behaviour is a problem in each one. Many female officers spoke of harassment, while inspectors highlighted 131 vetting files (18% of the total) where decisions concerned them. Examples included candidates being cleared to work as police officers despite having committed crimes against women, or having connections to organised crime.
Also this week, a former Police Scotland officer waived her anonymity and publicly accused it of covering up misogyny. Gemma MacRae said that she had been touched inappropriately several times by Scott Gallop, a former colleague who is now on trial. On one occasion, she was driven by officers to an isolated forest at night and left there. These revelations come six months after Police Scotland paid nearly £1m in damages to another woman, and two years after Dame Elish Angiolini, a former lord advocate, called for a fundamental review of equalities in Police Scotland. While there are variations between forces, evidence points to a nationwide problem of systems and culture.
The watchdog’s recommendations regarding vetting should be swiftly adopted. Measures such as additional supervision, or restrictions on the cases dealt with by officers about whom there are concerns, should be straightforward. Inspectors were satisfied with the way that four out of five complaints were handled, so there is good practice to build on. Senior leaders must become more engaged in recruitment and training, and addressing misconduct including social media misuse.
The snapshot of policing that the report provides is a dark one. At a time when most police forces are actively recruiting, the danger is that potential recruits, particularly women, could be put off. Since making the police more diverse and less male-dominated is one way to change it, this prospect is worrying. The language used by the two officers who were convicted this week of sharing offensive messages with Sarah Everard’s killer add to the impression of a thuggish, bigoted culture.
The problems are not all new. Institutional racism has been widely recognised since 1999’s Macpherson report into Stephen Lawrence’s murder. But a succession of recent mistakes has raised new issues, of which vetting is the latest. It does not take a sophisticated grasp of psychology to realise that the power police officers have means that some of those attracted to the work will not be suitable. Vetting processes exist to keep vulnerable members of the public safe from such people.
Not all the blame lies with the police themselves. The cuts imposed since 2010 were a rash mistake, which resulted in the loss of many experienced and hard-to-replace staff. Police officers are not unique in holding deeply unpleasant attitudes. These are society’s problem as well. But those trusted to enforce the law must be held to a high standard. It is shocking to learn just how low, in some cases, the bar has been allowed to fall.
