Baroness Louise Casey, a British government official, said the Metropolitan Police was “institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic” organisation in 2023.

This was following an independent review she made of the culture and standard of behaviours after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer.

Last month, the BBC aired an episode of Panorama called ‘undercover in the police’. It found that little had improved after her comments.

Now I want to explore why.

The immediate response to this programme seems to have a reoccurring theme by viewers- shocked but not surprised. Watching the Met officers in the Panorama make crude and offensive comments to colleagues is almost expected at this stage.

In a time when it feels like we are making progress regarding topics such as misogyny, it is concerning that the people we are meant to trust are making dismissive comments like “that’s what she says” when a woman put forward an allegation of rape and domestic violence.

The CEO of the charity Refuge said in response to the Panorama, “it is sadly just the latest set of revelations, highlighting how little real progress is being made. It is no wonder women’s confidence in police is at breaking point.”

I remember how I felt after the murder of Sarah Everard. Watching it grow from a missing persons case to the headline of the perpetrator being a serving Met police officer was devastating.

Social media posts from the time said, ‘What if it were your mother or sister?’ which I always find weird to say in situations like this, why do some people need to imagine a personal connection to feel empathy?

When the murder of a woman who was trying to walk home safely should be upsetting enough to make people feel outrage.

Another Met officer in the programme was recorded making racist comments to the man who was with Panorama.

Hearing a Met police officer saying “God, we’d so lose our jobs right now” before going on a rant using language popularised by the far-right such as an “invasion” is hard to watch, however learning that he has now been sacked following the investigation shows his awareness that comments of that nature would have consequences.

Throughout the programme, the group of officers go to pubs and test the waters with the ‘new’ guy. The more of a rapport he builds, the more offensive and comfortable they feel sharing views which aligns with all the Casey findings to some degree or another.

Sir Mark Crowley (Met Police Chief) responded to the BBC investigation saying it was “vile to watch”.

Before Crowley’s appearance on BBC Radio 4, A former chief superintendent in the Met said, “every single time there’s a promise that the toxic culture will be rooted out, but it comes back every single time”.

This has been proven time after time.

It leaves us with the question, can we ever trust the police?

Image Credit: Evie Smith