London's largest police force is institutionally racist, sexist and antigay, a new bombshell independent report has concluded.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the report was focused on the London Metropolitan Police force's culture and standards and is coming on the heels of the hugely publicized rape and murder of Sarah Everard by a police officer in 2021.
These aren't just new findings; a 1999 report had previously called out the Met police force as institutionally racist.
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The new report found "widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism, and other unacceptable behaviors" and recommends a review in two years. If things haven't improved, it recommends, the force should be broken up into smaller (presumably easier to fix) entities.
Even the Met's commissioner, Mark Rowley, didn't dispute the report's findings, saying "We've got hundreds of toxic individuals that need sorting out." Yikes! Rowley said officers are being removed, but that it will take a while to change the makeup of the force.
As WSJ points out, England hasn't had the same anti-police sentiment and protests that the U.S. has in the last few years due to London's "policing by consent" approach where officers are typically unarmed. The number of people killed by police in England and Wales is roughly a dozen a year, compared to 1,000 in the U.S.
Strangely, the report and the WSJ story point to lower funding of policing forces as part of the problem, blaming smaller budgets and a toxic work culture for the racism, sexism, and anti-gay sentiment, not hiring practices or culture within the Met. For instance, 1,000 sexual and domestic-abuse claims have been made by officers against other officers on a force of 35,000.
Until the Met gets its s**t together, beware when you're traveling to England and don't get mixed up with the London Metro force. You may not get shot, but it probably won't be pleasant if you're Black, gay, a woman or any combination of the three.
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