Women and children failed by force that has ‘fundamentally lost its way’, review finds

In her final report into the culture and standards of the MPS, Baroness Casey said there were “severe institutional failings” across the force that will require radical reform to resolve.

She said the MPS also now needs to recognise that its failings go “well beyond the actions of ‘bad apple’ officers” and are a symptom of “a wider malaise in an organisation that has fundamentally lost its way”.

MPS Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the report “sparks feelings of shame and anger” and must be a catalyst for police reform.

Baroness Casey also suggests that “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 Crossbench Peer was commissioned to review the culture and standards of London’s police service in the wake of the rape, abduction and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving MPS officer, and a series of other scandals that have shattered public confidence in the force.

Following a year-long investigation, in her final and full report published on Tuesday (March 21), today Baroness Casey has laid bare “deep and wide shortcomings across the force”, including that:

• The MPS is failing women and children;
• After a decade of austerity, frontline policing has been deprioritised and degraded;
• There is institutional racism, sexism and homophobia, inside the organisation in terms of how officers and staff are treated, and outside the organisation in terms of how communities are policed; and
• It is unable to police itself.

Baroness Casey assesses that all of this means that policing by consent in the capital is broken. And that the biggest single barrier to fixing the force is the MPS’s culture of defensiveness and denial about the scale of its problems.

Baroness Casey said: “I absolutely recognise the commitment that Met officers make to protecting the people of our capital city every day. They put themselves at risk to keep us safe and always deserve our thanks and support.

“But everyone within the Met also now needs to recognise that its failings go well beyond the actions of ‘bad apple’ officers. My report makes clear that, on top of the unimaginable crimes of individuals and the shocking series of events that have hit the service in recent years, the way in which the Met has responded to them is also a symptom of a wider malaise in an organisation that has fundamentally lost its way.

“The Met can now no longer presume that it has the permission of the people of London to police them. The loss of this crucial principle of policing by consent would be catastrophic. We must make sure it is not irreversible.

“It is fixable if the Met recognises the true scale of the challenge in front of it, with drastic and effective action.

“The Met must be prepared to accept stronger outside challenge and scrutiny. It needs strong leadership and all its officers and staff to be behind the changes required. It needs a women’s protection service, a new children’s strategy and neighbourhood policing teams back on the streets. It must move quickly towards looking like the brilliantly diverse city it polices, end its discriminatory practices and earn the trust of all communities. And it must be prepared to confront and remove those who won’t accept the basic standards of a modern, 21st century police service.

“Decent police officers deserve nothing less. London deserves nothing less.”

The review recommends that the MPS must:

• Better protect women and children with a dedicated women’s protection service, introducing a new children’s strategy, and re-instating sexual and domestic abuse services as specialist functions;
• Re-invest in and reprioritise frontline policing by restoring visible neighbourhood policing, giving a higher status to frontline work, and creating stronger local leadership;
• Take rapid steps to end discrimination internally in its recruitment, development and promotion processes, and in its internal misconduct system; and externally by policing all communities equally including with a reset of stop and search;
• Clean itself up by bringing in an independent team to run its misconduct system, introducing higher vetting standards and new end to end processes that stop those who are intent on abusing their position as police officers, tackling toxic cultures with clearer statements of standards for all and tougher enforcement of them, and disbanding and reforming ‘dark corner’ units where some of the worst behaviours have been found and officers are equipped to carry lethal firearms; and
• Improve its leadership and accountability with a new policing board for London led by the mayor, and a new policing deal for Londoners that acknowledges historical mistakes and prioritises securing the consent of the public to police them.

Baroness Casey says the report sets out a series of measures by which success should be judged and concludes that, if sufficient progress is not being made at points of further review, “more radical, structural options, such as dividing up the Met into national, specialist and London responsibilities, should be considered to ensure the service to Londoners is prioritised”.

The MPS said the report’s findings will be taken forward to inform and shape “an ambitious plan to reform and rebuild trust while delivering for Londoners”.

The Commissioner said the report “sparks feelings of shame and anger but it also increases our resolve”.

Sir Mark added: “I am proud of those people, our officers and staff, whose passion for policing and determination to reform moved them to share their experiences with such honesty.

“This is, in many ways, their report. It must be a catalyst for police reform.

“This report needs to lead to meaningful change. If it only leads to pillory and blame of the exceptional majority of officers then only criminals will benefit.

“We need it to galvanise Londoners, the dedicated police majority and politicians to coalesce around reform and the renewal of policing by consent for the 21st century.”

The review was commissioned by the MPS in October 2021 following the appalling murder of Ms Everard by a serving officer and its publication follows other catastrophic and criminal incidents involving other officers.

Baroness Casey was asked to examine the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the MPS and to make recommendations on the actions required.

Her final report explores a wide range of issues including the MPS’s organisation, its support for officers and staff, discrimination, standards, its approach to protecting women and children and its wider operational effectiveness.

Sir Mark said: “The appalling examples in this report of discrimination, the letting down of communities and victims, and the strain faced by the front line, are unacceptable.

“We have let people down and I repeat the apology I gave in my first weeks to Londoners and our own people in the Met. I am sorry.

“I want us to be anti-racist, anti-misogynist and anti-homophobic. In fact, I want us to be anti-discrimination of all kinds.

“There are external factors – funding, governance, growing demand and resource pressures that shouldn’t sit with policing – that the report has identified. Baroness Casey is right to identify the impact these have had on our ability to police London, but there can be no excuses for us.

“The core of the problems are for policing to determinedly confront.”

The MPS’s Turnaround Plan was intentionally published in draft form in January.

It marked the start of a conversation and a programme of meaningful engagement with communities and partners with a revised and final version to be published in late spring.

Baroness Casey’s report will play a crucial role in shaping those ongoing conversations and will ensure the final plan meets the scope and scale of the challenge we are confronted with.

Sir Mark said: “Our Turnaround Plan is already building momentum across the Met.

“I am reassured that a number of issues highlighted by Baroness Casey – our service to victims, rebuilding neighbourhood policing and how we protect the most vulnerable for example – are priorities we too had identified.

“Baroness Casey’s insights, alongside feedback from the public, will greatly influence the next version.

“We know that the challenges ahead of us are not simple, but we have tens of thousands of inspiring and hard-working officers and staff and we will be determined and relentless in taking them on.

“I am confident we will succeed.”

Read the full report at https://www.crestadvisory.com/baroness-casey-review-final-report