Key findings from the damning Met Police report include racist "pranks" and the destruction of critical evidence.

 "Far too many Londoners have now lost faith in policing," writes Baroness Louise Casey in her landmark report on the Metropolitan Police, which was released on Tuesday. The review, which was launched in the aftermath of Sarah Everard's abduction, rape, and murder by a serving Met Police officer as she walked home alone on March 3, 2021, discovered that the capital's police force is inherently and institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic. It comes after Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr stated in November that hundreds, if not thousands, of corrupt officers may be serving in England and Wales police forces as a result of inadequate vetting standards. Upday examines some of the most shocking revelations from Baroness Casey's report, ranging from repeated sexual assaults on female colleagues to initiation rituals designed to humiliate junior colleagues. 

Racist pranks on ethnic minority officers, with a denial culture 

Discriminatory bullying was discovered to be widespread within the Metropolitan Police force, including racially charged "pranks" against ethnic minority officers. In one case, a Muslim officer was "horrified" after bacon was placed inside his shoes. In another case, a Sikh officer's beard was trimmed as a "joke." One black officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, which David Carrick and Wayne Couzens both served in, was dubbed a "gate-monkey" by colleagues. However, the force's racist tendencies were discovered to be much deeper, with statistics showing that black officers are 81% more likely than their white colleagues to end up in the Met's misconduct system. Despite the fact that the Met has remained "largely white" since the 1999 Macpherson report, Baroness Casey estimates that it will take until 2061 for the Met to achieve the 46% Black, Asian, and ethnic minority representation required to be representative of London today. "Discrimination is frequently ignored, and complaints are likely to be directed at Black, Asian, and ethnic minority officers," the report states. Speaking up is "unwelcome," and "keeping your head down, looking the other way, and telling people - especially senior officers - what they want to hear is the way things are done in the Met," it continues.

Female officers raped by colleagues, with evidence of rape cases thrown away 

12 percent of women in the Met's workforce reported sexual harassment or assault in some way while at work, according to the report. In one case, a policewoman was the victim of ongoing domestic and sexual abuse by a fellow Met Officer, which was "an open secret on their team but few people wanted to speak up." In a year, the case was passed between six different investigators in the Met's misconduct system, a process she described as leaving her "in an absolute state" and leading to her attempt on her own life. In another case, a male officer went to a domestic abuse victim's home and groomed her, cultivating an inappropriate relationship with her and "discouraging her from speaking with friends and family," as well as "any other officers." According to the report, "she grew to see him as a friend and the only person she could trust," and "she was unaware that she was being groomed." The woman later discovered that the officer had not recorded any of the evidence she provided about her case, implying that her original abuser would go unpunished. The report also found that many of the fridges and freezers used by the Metropolitan Police to store swabs and blood samples from rape and sexual offence cases were "over-stuffed, dilapidated and broken". It meant that evidence was being destroyed without necessity, jeopardizing cases and collapsing prosecutions. According to the report, in one case, a lunchbox was discovered in the same fridge as evidence.

Because of 'deep-seated homophobia,' a gay officer avoids police while off-duty. 

According to the report, there is "deep-seated homophobia within the Met," with nearly one in every five lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees experiencing homophobia and one in every three reporting being bullied. A gay male officer was the target of a "sustained campaign of homophobia from within the Met" in one case. A gay male officer was the target of a "sustained campaign of homophobia from within the Met" in one case. He had received a torrent of homophobic hatred from anonymous accounts on social media, as well as malicious calls to the force's internal, anonymous reporting line. According to the report, despite the fact that it may sound "laughable," he is "frightened of the police." "I don't trust my own organization," he said, adding that "when I'm not at work, I'll change my route to avoid walking past police officers."

'Initiation rituals' designed to humiliate junior coworkers 

According to Baroness Casey's report, ritual humiliation of junior colleagues is also widespread within the force, with people being excluded from "the team" if they refuse to participate. According to the report, food-eating challenges were common practice, with women being forced to eat entire cheesecakes until they vomited. A male officer was allegedly sexually assaulted in the showers in one incident. In other cases, junior officers are said to have been urinated on. The report also detailed "pranks" and "banter" by Met Police officers, such as throwing bags of urine at cars, putting sex toys in coffee mugs, and leaving an animal in an officer's locker. 

A codeword was used to protect officers who shared photographs of crime scene victims. 

When reports surfaced of Met officers sharing discriminatory messages and images of crime scene victims, such as in the cases of Bibaa Henry and Nicola Smallman's murders, the Met launched an internal anti-discrimination campaign. However, according to Baroness Casey's investigation, part of this campaign involved officers being encouraged to delete images of dead bodies shared in WhatsApp groups in order to protect themselves. According to the review, some were even taught the codeword LANDSLIDE, which was created to indicate that a messaging group had been "compromised," prompting any members to delete all messages and leave the chat. 

A 'toxic culture' exists in the firearms unit. 

The report discovered a "deeply troubling" culture at the Metropolitan Police Specialist Firearms Command (MO19), which Baroness Casey described as "toxic." It discovered exorbitant spending on high-end equipment such as tomahawk axes and useless night vision goggles, as well as instances of Met officers ordering iPads and personalized jackets on the taxpayer's dime. In one case, a photo-shopped poster of female firearms officers carrying mops, irons, and kettles instead of weapons appeared in a MO19 common area. In another case, men stationed at a MO19 training desk competed to see how many times they could "make their female students cry." It occurred amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations in MO19, the majority of which resulted in no punishment for the male officers accused. According to the review, there was "a clear pattern of male officers being temporarily removed from command after allegations were raised, only to have the decision reversed or be reinstated by a more senior officer shortly thereafter." 

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