Met Police report: Rape cases ruined, officer's beard cut.... five findings from Casey review

A damning study into the civilization and standards of the Metropolitan Police has laid bare heavy and wide failings successful the force.

Discrimination is baked into it; it is failing women and children; it is incapable to constabulary itself; and nationalist assurance has been shattered, Baroness Louise Casey concluded.

Here are 5 striking findings from the 363-page report:

The "de-prioritisation and de-specialisation" of nationalist extortion - successful areas similar kid protection, rape and superior intersexual offences - has enactment women and children astatine greater hazard than necessary, the reappraisal says.

It says officers investigating rape and superior intersexual offences person to woody with "over-stuffed, dilapidated oregon broken" fridges and freezers containing evidence, and indispensable endure agelong waits for results.

Evidence from victims of intersexual violence, specified arsenic swabs, humor samples and underwear, was destroyed erstwhile 1 freezer broke down successful the 2022 heatwave.

This meant the related cases of alleged rape being investigated would beryllium dropped, an anonymous serviceman told the review.

Three officers would beryllium needed to adjacent freezers containing forensic samples due to the fact that they were truthful full, serviceman G said, adding the fridges utilized arsenic portion of rape cases were successful a "bad shape, packed and ruining evidence".

The study identified wide bullying successful the force, which it called institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic.

Among galore examples, 1 Sikh serviceman had his beard trimmed due to the fact that different serviceman thought it was funny, portion another's turban was enactment successful a shoebox.

In different case, a Muslim serviceman recovered bacon had been enactment successful his boots wrong his locker. He was "horrified" but did not archer anyone astir the incidental for fearfulness of reprisals.

Among different targeted acts, an openly gay, black, antheral serviceman who was mocked successful beforehand of others, had his belongings and azygous hidden and his locker vandalised.

Almost 1 successful 5 lesbian, cheery and bisexual Met employees had personally experienced homophobia, the reappraisal found.

Officer E said that aft talking to different colleagues astir their experiences: "I americium frightened of the police. I don't spot my ain organisation."

The reappraisal was told astir the humiliation of inferior unit done initiation tests.

A pistillate serviceman said hierarchies, bullying and humiliation of inferior officers was "rife" successful the specializer portion wherever she worked.

Initiations included food-eating challenges, specified arsenic women being forced to devour full cheesecakes until they vomited, according to serviceman H.

She was told astir a antheral serviceman being sexually assaulted successful the showers arsenic portion of their ain initiation, thing she said was openly talked and joked astir by colleagues.

Those who refused to enactment were ostracised and considered "not to beryllium portion of the team", she said.

There were besides reports of radical being urinated connected successful the shower.

In February past year, discriminatory WhatsApp messages emerged that were sent by officers based astatine Charing Cross constabulary station.

Later that period saw the motorboat of the interior run Not In My Met, designed to promote unit to talk retired astir discrimination.

According to serviceman G, colleagues were encouraged to delete WhatsApp messages during a gathering astir the campaign.

She says officers were told to "look carefully" astatine their WhatsApps and Facebook messages and that "they're coming for everyone now, support yourselves".

She said she was alert of colleagues successful different briefings receiving the aforesaid message.

The study said WhatsApp besides figured successful "troubling practices designed to forestall mediocre behaviour from coming to light".

In 1 of the Met's specializer units, firearms bid MO19, the study says immoderate officers were primed connected what to bash if a WhatsApp, Signal oregon Telegram radical was "compromised" - for illustration if determination was a ailment astir its contents oregon idiosyncratic was nether a misconduct investigation.

Officers successful the portion would benignant LANDSLIDE into the radical - prompting members to instantly permission the group, delete its contents and make a caller group.

Concerns astir the attraction of children by the constabulary were thrown into the spotlight past twelvemonth by the lawsuit of Child Q, a achromatic schoolgirl who was portion searched by 2 Met officers astatine schoolhouse portion connected her period.

The study says figures revealing the radical disproportionality successful intimate searches lend value to the assertion that "adultification" - wherever achromatic children are treated arsenic adults and arsenic a threat, justifying greater usage of unit oregon intrusion - is contiguous successful the force.

In 1 case, a achromatic lad told a nonrecreational extracurricular the constabulary that helium was carrying a weapon for protection, and was progressive successful a pack but wanted assistance to leave.

The kid was assaulted by an big connected a aboriginal day and the nonrecreational contacted the constabulary to study the battle and manus successful the knife. A antithetic portion attended and arrested the boy.

"We wholly mislaid him, helium wholly disengaged", the reappraisal was told.

The reappraisal said determination was grounds the Met whitethorn see that mistakes could beryllium made successful officers' actions towards achromatic children, but determination was besides an unwillingness to interrogate whether determination were broader issues astir race, desensitisation and systematic bias.

This, it said, was "symptomatic of the Met's attack to understanding, recognising, and responding to allegations of racism wrong its ranks".