By Najma Sultan
Baroness Casey of Blackstock spoke today on the changes that should be made within the Met Police, following her damning report that called the police institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer also loudly challenged the Tory government today in the wake of Baroness Casey’s report. “You should be ashamed of yourselves,” he told them on their record of tackling crime.
Speaking to members of the Greater London Assembly, Baroness Casey spoke on the changes that should be made, with four main tests and conclusions.
“Racism, misogyny and homophobia are all there – but not all people are,” she said, referring to the officers.
A fresh start was urged for the whole system and to reform The Met. Baroness Casey said: “It gives London a fresh start, the Mayor a fresh start and the Met a fresh start. The biggest fresh start has to be for The Met.”
Awareness of issues
During the meeting it was evident The Met were aware of the issues present and apologised for them. Sir Mark, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said: “I have already apologised to the public of London.”
Baroness Casey mentioned several statistics during the meeting. She said: “One in 10 women officers have experienced harassment, 65% of Black women are more likely to be on the domestic violence aspect and 81% of Blacks are more likely to be affected by mistreatment.”
“Black people are over policed and under protected,” in London, she said.
Baroness Casey said: “In order to clean up the Met they need to bring people from the outside. I do not believe that they can do it on their own.”
She recognised that London has a stop and search problem. “Stop and search is a big issue in London, we do it a lot.”
She also said that London neighbourhoods have been lacking community officers, as cuts have been made from that particular department within the Met force. In the meeting it was confirmed by Sir Mark that more will be done to tackle this issue.
Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat London Assembly member, later tweeted: “In response to my questions, Baroness Casey admitted she would expect the numbers dismissed to be in the several hundreds rather than the hundreds. Huge change is needed for the Met Police to become a service for Londoners that we can all have faith in.”
It was confirmed after this two-year update of the Met that a five-year review will be on the way to report on the changes.
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