‘Complete overhaul’ needed at MPS to restore public trust, says Baroness Casey

In her final report into the culture and standards of the MPS, Baroness Casey said public respect has fallen to a “low point”, with Londoners who do not have confidence in the MPS outnumbering those who do.

She said problems including austerity, changes in crime and a disciplinary system that makes it “difficult to get rid of people who corrupt the Met’s integrity”, have “eroded frontline policing”.

“We found an organisation that needs not just a series of changes that have been called for numerous times in the past, or even a root and branch set of reforms to meet its responsibilities to Londoners, but a complete overhaul and a new approach to restore public trust and confidence and earn back consent from women, black communities and the rest of London,” Baroness Casey said.

The review makes 16 recommendations, and calls for changes to be made by the MPS, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime and the Home Office to create “a radically improved” new London force.

Baroness Casey said these reforms are on “a significant scale”, and on a par with the transformation of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service of Northern Ireland at the end of the last century.

Changes include an independent, multi-disciplinary team of officers and staff being broiught in to reform a misconduct process that is “not fit for purpose”, with a particular focus on how it handles sexual misconduct, domestic abuse and discrimination.

“We have found widespread bullying, discrimination, institutional homophobia, misogyny and racism, and other unacceptable behaviours which are a far cry from the high ethical standards the public rightly expects of its police officers,” said the review.

Baroness Casey said vetting standards should be changed with “immediate effect to guard against those who intend to abuse the powers of a police officer”.

“The Met should introduce new end-to-end processes throughout an officer or staff member’s service – from initial recruitment and vetting through to leaving the force – with a relentless focus on identifying and reducing opportunities for predators who seek to abuse the powers of a police officer from joining or staying in the Met,” she added.

Baroness Casey said some of the worst cultures, behaviours and practices identified by the review have been found in specialist firearms units, “where standards should be at their absolute highest”.

She has recommended that the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP) should “effectively be disbanded” in its current form, ensuring there is “an absolute ‘reset’ with a new ethos, identity and a focus on rooting out unacceptable behaviour”.

All current officers carrying firearms, including those in Specialist Firearms (MO19) Commands and PaDP,  should be “thoroughly re-vetted” and ‘blue card’ firearms qualifications should be revoked “unequivocally and permanently” where an officer’s “values and standards falls short of public expectations”.

The review also calls for the MPS to “embed and enforce the highest policing ethical values and standards” across all of its systems and management, from recruitment and vetting through to supervision and the misconduct process, making sure these are adhered to by all its officers and staff, and that those who breach the standards “face the consequences the public would expect”.

The MPS should also “radically reform” public protection teams, with specialists investigating rape and sexual offences.

It also needs to overhaul its child protection and safeguarding practices, the review said, while a dedicated women’s protection service was needed with women and children “not getting the protection and support they deserve”.

The use of stop and search in London by the MPS also needs “a fundamental reset”, it added.

Baroness Casey said the MPS and the Mayor of London should commission independent progress reviews after two years, and again after five years, so that Londoners can “have trust and confidence that reform is taking place”

Baroness Casey said this series of actions, if done well and together, will help the MPS “get back on its feet”.

“The Met owes nothing less than this to the victims, and to the families and friends of those women who have been murdered, raped and abused by serving officers,” she said.

“It also owes it to children not provided with the protection they needed, to women who do not feel safe in our capital city, to black Londoners who have been under-protected and over-policed for too long, and to all communities who deserve to be served by what should and could be the best police force in the world.

“The arrival of a new commissioner and new deputy commissioner, and their commitment to reform is major step towards a new, positive beginning for the Met.

“This provides a new broom to sweep the Met clean. However, they face deep-seated and long-standing cultures which are present throughout the organisation and its systems that have previously prevented change.

“They cannot achieve that change on their own and deserve all our support.

“We need every officer and member of staff in the Met to step up to the challenges identified in this review, to accept its findings and commit to change.”

Baroness Casey said if sufficient progress is not being made, “more radical, structural” change, such as splitting up the MPS into different areas of responsibility – national, specialist and local – “should be considered to ensure the service to Londoners is prioritised”.

‘The MPS is too big to govern – here’s how it should be broken up’ – see https://www.policeprofessional.com/feature/the-mps-is-too-big-to-govern/