The current Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police Force Sir Mark Rowley who was appointed in July of last year to police the 32 boroughs of Greater London has been doing a lot of media over the past few days to address the dire situation in that constabulary with 34,545 police officers. Many of these rogue police officers and other staff are facing disciplinary hearings, grievance proceedings, being imprisoned and sacked as the level of corruption amongst some is absolutely astounding. At least he is taking the unprecedented step of finally addressing the overwhelming evidence of sexism, racism, homophobia and misogyny that has been happening for several years with commissioner after commissioner in the London Metropolitan Police Force turning a blind eye. Several years ago, a friend of mine went to live in New York and she sent me a postcard saying ‘I am in the Big Apple and it is infested with worms’. That too is my description of the London Metropolitan Police Force which is rotten to the core and needs a major clearing out of those corrupt police officers who should never in the first place have been allowed to wear the uniform let alone be still serving in any capacity.
Women, girls and Black people in particular have been saying for decades how they have been treated unfairly by London police officers in terms of stop and search on numerous occasions, including intimate strip searches, wrongful arrests, assaults, called derogatory names, drugs being ‘planted’ on them to name a few as the list is endless. Yet they are hardly ever believed or have their complaints taken seriously. As for the Independent Police Complaints Commission the less said the better (IPPC) as that supposedly independent body is so far removed from people’s real life/lived experiences of police brutality, harassment and intimidation. It took the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard on 3rd March 2021 by a then serving police officer now imprisoned for life to bring about a watershed moment in London policing. This bears all the hallmarks of the brutal murder of George Floyd in the United States by a police officer in May 2020.
Sir Mark Rowley’s predecessor Cressida Dick who claims she ‘felt intimidated into resigning’ according to a review also did numerous media appearances when she held the position. However, having witnessed on television and radio several of those interviews, never once did she ever put her hands up and blame her police officers for any wrong doing as they were always blameless and perfect in every way. As the first woman ever appointed to such a high-ranking position in the London Police Force, she has been a major disappointment on many levels and one seriously questions whether in her senior role as head of the entire operation has she ever seen the numerous statistics/figures of complaints compiled by her department about her staff on her watch? For her to repeatedly stand in front of the cameras and defend the indefensible even when the evidence was staring at her in the face is truly incredible. I will never forget when thousands of women chose to demonstrate and have a vigil after the murder of Sarah Everard that she saw absolutely nothing wrong with the heavy-handed tactics that her officers used to break up the peaceful demonstration.
The same root and branch weeding out of these corrupt officers that Sir Mark Rowley alludes to needs to happen in all the other police forces in England as what has transpired in recent months should be no surprise to anyone with a grain of common sense. The Met police force is a microcosm of the wider society and the sexism, racism and misogyny that has now been exposed is nothing new but de-ja-vu. This clearing out and overhaul needs to happen also in the Probation Service, Prison Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Judiciary and Magistracy, National Health Service, Education services and the Fire Brigade Service ( a report of 21st March 2023 had similar findings for all fire and rescue services in the country) to name a few of the many.
Interestingly Sir Mark Rowley refuses to acknowledge or accept the institutional racism that has been clearly stated in the latest report about the appalling behavior, happenings and ‘cop culture’ in the London Met Police which for decades have been detailed and defined in a plethora of reports such as the Macpherson Inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. What lies at the heart of the matter is his inability to recognize that there is an underlying and fundamental problem in that regard. He will definitely struggle in his efforts to rid the organization of the thousands of ‘bad apples’ that are damaging the reputation of what should be good community/neighbourhood policing if he cannot see how this and other institutions are rife with racism.
One might choose not to read the recent 300+ page report of Baroness Louise Casey of which the contents are not surprising to many but let me leave you with just a few of the findings:
The review highlighted shocking examples of racist, homophobic and misogynistic behaviour among serving officers and staff in Britain’s biggest police force. The report explored how a toxic culture of blame sought to pin responsibility for the widespread and “institutionalised” behavior on “bad apples” with a “strong tendency to look for a positive spin”.
Findings were branded “heart-breaking” by Met Commissioner Mark Rowley.
The report pointed to racism and sexism on an “institutional” scale and is letting down the public, it was concluded.
Echoing the 1999 Macpherson report into the Met’s handling of the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, Baroness Casey’s report said public trust in the force had been lost and that policing by consent was “broken”. Meanwhile, more than half of women in London now say they no longer trust the Met to keep women and girls safe.
I am sure you all get the picture and there is no need to add anything. Is this going to be yet another report left to gather dust on the shelf instead of ongoing monitoring, reviewing and implementation of the myriad of recommendations? Hence the caption for this article which I stand by.
London born Tony Kelly of Jamaican parents grew up in Jamaica and returned to live in Birmingham in 1979.
He is a graduate of Mico Teachers’ College and taught in Kingston high schools prior to working for 30+ years as a middle manager in central and local government with an emphasis on equity, equality, diversity and inclusion. He has a masters’ degree in socio-legal studies from the university of Birmingham.
For over a decade Tony has volunteered as a diabetes ambassador firstly for Diabetes UK and now for the National Health Service – Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group. A multi-award winner doing a yearly average of 150 health and well-being events, locally, nationally and internationally focusing on type 2 diabetes. He was diagnosed with this medical condition 18 years ago. However with a combination of physical activity and diet he has never taken medication thus proving with the right mindset and discipline it can be achieved.
As a diabetes advocate/activist Tony will continue delivering the message of healthy options to readers of CaribDirect.com .
