The police in London are as much under discussion as the force in France after the shooting death of Nahel Merzouk. Incidents of racism and sexism are the rule rather than the exception.
Thirteen years ago, a wave of violence swept through major cities in England after the death of Mark Duggan by police bullets in the London district of Tottenham. Youths fought, looted shops and set cars on fire. As in Paris now, deep mistrust of the Corps led to an aggressive uprising. A recently published report to the London Metropolitan Police indicates that this suspicion does not come out of the blue.
The findings of Baroness Louise Casey hit like a bomb. She spoke of institutional racism, sexism and homophobia. To her surprise, officers didn’t even try to hold back during visits from her investigative team. Female members were welcomed with derogatory remarks. Police forces hindered the collection of incriminating facts by quickly erasing WhatsApp groups.
Kidnapping, rape and murder
Casey’s report followed the kidnapping, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Special Agent Wayne Couzens during the lockdowns. David Carrick, part of the same unit in London, stressed the need for action. In twenty years of service, the man became one of the biggest serial rapists in England. No less than eighteen times charges against him remained without consequences.
The British government is working on a change in the rules to make summary dismissal of ‘bad apples’ easier. This relaxation should help Chief Constable Mark Rowley’s job of carrying out a cleanup. Endless procedures make it difficult to terminate a contract. If the politicians in Westminster give the green light, it is estimated that more than two thousand ‘wrong’ cops will immediately lose their jobs.
The ‘sickened culture’, which Casey refers to, already took on a face in the aftermath of Duggan’s death. With no security cameras nearby, two detectives stopped the taxi the victim was in. Duggan, suspected of possessing a firearm, lay bleeding on the floor seconds later. The police painted an image of a gangster in the media, who first persuaded the pull.
Rattling story
This view rattled. Duggan did not shoot and only had a criminal record for handling and possession of cannabis. Witnesses, including the taxi driver, stated that Duggan was not holding a gun, but a mobile phone. It made the discovery of a gun twenty meters from his body strange. The officers stated that he must have thrown it away after being hit. Unlikely, one forensic scientist indicated.
The police nevertheless went unpunished. A judicial commission ruled that the agents operated within the law. Relatives smoke foul play. Could the weapon, attributed to Duggan, a dark-skinned man in his late twenties, have been deliberately placed? The lack of trust in the Metropolitan Police within the Afro-Caribbean population fueled this sense of paranoia.
Six perpetrators free
The case of Stephen Lawrence, stabbed to death by neo-Nazis in April 1993, is under the skin of black Londoners. Investigators failed to act appropriately. Evidence was ignored, ruined or covered up. The six perpetrators, identified by witnesses, went unpunished until a cold case team scrutinized the file. This led to the conviction of two of the killers in 2012.
Last week, the relatives of Lawrence, an architecture student, suffered another blow. A court ruled that the offending detectives cannot be prosecuted for corruption and racially motivated acts. For the Of this statement does not change anything. A quarter of a century ago, a committee called the body ‘structurally racist’. According to Casey’s report, that is still the case.
Casey reported that rape in London is “tolerated” by sexism. During interrogations, agents often place the blame on the woman, which means that perpetrators are only brought to justice in exceptional cases. Black police officers receive 84 percent more official reprimands than white colleagues. Minorities are dismissed as ‘shit’ or ‘monkeys’. “Discrimination is ingrained in the system,” the report says.
The difference with France is in the recognition of this. Both the Met and the government accept the chronic flaws. That is not to say that the worrying situation will change quickly. A few days ago, a British-Nigerian communications expert from a sub-force in London filed a complaint against her boss. In an e-mail, he wrote, referring to her skin color: “Can that person speak English?”
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