SafeLives responds to Baroness Casey’s interim report on Met Police misconduct
Baroness Casey’s report is clear – fundamental change is needed in policing, both at the Metropolitan Police and elsewhere.
Response to Baroness Casey’s report on Met police misconduct
Baroness Louise Casey’s report into the culture of the Metropolitan Police is utterly damning.
Investigations of the Met’s failings stretch back more than 30 years, and yet institutional racism, sexism and homophobia persist and flourish throughout the ranks. Providing protection to people when they are at their most vulnerable is the most basic standard the Met is consistently and historically failing to meet.
Women, racially minoritised and LGBT+ communities, who are most socially disadvantaged and so most in need of a sensitive, compassionate, and professional response have too often been failed, dismissed, and preyed upon.
The report also concludes that the Met is defensive and resistant to change, which will leave victims of crime and marginalised communities, in particular, fearful about the response they receive when they’re in danger.
The Met’s leadership must accept these findings in full, and genuinely commit to the structural, systemic, and cultural transformation that is essential to restore trust. There can be no more justification, minimisation or talk of bad apples – this diminishes the officers and staff committed to change and victims must feel confident they can call the police and get the very best response.
You may also be interested in
Policing: misconduct and wholesale culture change
Policing in England and Wales is going through a period of huge change, sometimes supported and sometimes not, by the infrastructure that surrounds it.
Response to the HMIC report – police engagement with women and girls
SafeLives welcomes the publication of the HMIC report on policing violence against women and girls and the overarching finding that a whole system approach and radical change are needed to stop this epidemic in its tracks.