Women and children have been failed by the Metropolitan Police, with racism, misogyny, and homophobia at the heart of the force, a blistering review says.
Baroness Casey says a “boys’ club” culture is rife and the force could be dismantled if it does not improve.
Her year-long review condemns systemic failures, painting a picture of a force where rape cases were dropped because freezers containing key evidence broke.
The Met’s Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has apologised to Londoners.
He said: “It is ghastly. You sit down and read that report and it generates a whole series of emotions. It generates anger, frustration, embarrassment.”
Baroness Casey was appointed to review the force’s culture and standards after the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, in 2021.
During the course of her review, another Met officer, David Carrick, was convicted of a series of rapes, sexual offences and torture of women.
The report begins with a tribute to Sarah Everard’s mother and a quote from her victim impact statement, given in court. It says “those crimes and those betrayals of trust” led to this review.
The 363-page report condemns the force as institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic. Staff routinely experience sexism, it adds. There are racist officers and staff, and a “deep-seated homophobia” in the organisation. (BBC)