Photo: Chris Hobbs
This is not a dissection of the Casey review which has attracted so much attention and indeed is linked to a similar report by Sir William Macpherson in 1999 when he labelled the Met as intuitionally racist.
I was a serving Met officer in 1999 before retirement in 2011; since then, I’ve stayed close to world of policing. The following are a series of snapshots during my career and the period since then. It’s an accumulation of incidents/issues over several decades which I would have submitted to any sort of review of the Met had I been asked and indeed still would.
The Casey review received approbation from serving and retired officers for its findings in the first section of the report in terms of how the cuts and poor management had led to an organisation which was shambolic. There was some sympathy for the hard pressed ‘front-line.’
However, much of the rest of the report was scathing with the organisation and much of its workforce labelled as racist, misogynistic and homophobic. There was the odd fleeting word or phrase of praise but, as far as the media were concerned and doubtless many of the public, the report effectively and collectively smeared to the extent that any member of the public engaging with a male officer, especially a white male officer, would be likely do so with trepidation.
So below are the personal snapshots featuring incidents which would support the Casey Review’s findings followed by others which would mitigate against.
Poor behaviour in the Met
If I were asked for case studies which would denigrate the Met, I’d provide the following and they are all true: Thus, I remember:
As a young PC, a female officer, married to a male officer coming into work with a black eye; another female officer was thrown across a computer terminal by a male PC; overhearing the only other two occupants of a police canteen discussing in graphic detail one’s sexual conquest of a female officer; attending a disciplinary hearing which dealt with an allegation that an officer, when engaging in ‘banter’ with an Asian colleague used the term which has recently occupied some column inches, namely ‘you lot;’ a former girlfriend who contacted me as she was being stalked and harassed after ending a relationship with a controlling police officer; two former females on my team, both black, being poorly treated by senior managers (but so was a third; a white male officer); a black member of police staff being screamed at by a police supervisor in front of a busy open plan office, for a minor error.
I like to report that all were resolved; most were while the female officer with the black eye later divorced. During my career, I estimate that I encountered about 40 officers who I felt should not be in possession of warrant cards; about a third of these were senior officers. However, I can honestly say that the overwhelming majority of the hundreds of officers of all ranks, genders, races and religions who I encountered, were simply good people who cared.
Below are the positives. To anticipate those who will criticise, I acknowledge that there is far more detail in what follows, than the negatives. Conversely, these personal snapshots do involve many more officers:
British Movement thugs harassed.
In 1979, young Southall PCs were so concerned that the far right British Movement skinheads were harassing and attacking black and Asian residents on the predominately white estates that surrounded the town, they went to the Chief Inspector (ops) and a squad was formed, consisting initially of those young officers, to deal with the issue…..and, over the months that followed they, (we) did!!
Events in India; unrest in the UK
The assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguard and the storming of the Sikh Golden Temple in 1984 by Indian troops led to tensions and assassinations in the UK which terrified the Asian communities. Special Branch and anti-terrorist squads from the Met and West Midlands plus local police worked prodigiously to frustrate plots and arrest those responsible for the extreme levels of violence. They achieved this without antagonising rival sections of these communities and relations remained good. One Special Branch officer was awarded an MBE for, essentially, his services to the Asian community.
Communal divisions test police
In 1995, a small fracas at a West London college on a Friday was to herald nearly four years of tension. On the Monday, 200 members of an extreme Islamic group later linked to ISIS, gathered outside the college and stormed into the grounds attacking Sikhs. Fortunately, I was forewarned, which saw the TSG parked close-by which in turn resulted in the situation being contained with arrests. That night, however, trouble flared all across Southall. This soon spread to Hounslow and Slough and the three senior commanders responsible for the three divisions met in a summit. It was decided to emulate the policing of football and a team of ‘spotters’ was formed using officers from each station (plus me from SB). They attended Asian festivals, processions, fairs, religious marches and even ‘Bhangra’ concerts. Senior officers communicated with community leaders and there was a virtual ‘open door’ policy at police stations to those community leaders. There were incidents but the ‘lid stayed on’ thanks to outstanding, empathetic policing by the officers involved. By 1999, the year of the Macpherson report, tensions had eased. It remains a mystery as to why these achievements of the Met never formed part of the evidence to Macpherson.
Operation Trident creates community support.
In the 1980’s, so called yardie criminals began to cause serious problems on the streets of London. In the 1990’s several policing initiatives came and went, including the disastrous introduction of an informant from Jamaica. The black community demanded action. Operation Trident was launched as an intelligence gathering unit in 1998. In 2000 Trident became fully operational. Led by a succession of superb senior officers, it achieved remarkable results in terms of arrests, charges, sentencing and, where those convicted were from abroad, deportations. More importantly, the operations won community support while engagement with that community via the Independent Advisory Group was a key factor. Trident and its logo became a trusted brand both here and in Jamaica. By 2010 its focus, began to move away from the black community despite the fact that Trident and some superb policing had gained its trust. The death of Mark Duggan was effectively the end of what could have been a template for the Met as a whole. Perhaps it still could be.
Operation Airbridge with benefits
Whilst all police, customs and immigration officers inevitably fell in love with Jamaica within a short time of working in that country, they were shocked by conditions they found in the garrison areas. After a chance meeting with the legendary Moira Morgan during Operation Airbridge (a Trident linked UK customs operation with Jamaican police to disrupt crime networks importing drugs into the UK) it was decided to set up a charity, the objective of which was to keep the poorest of the poor children in education. Major fund- raising events were staged attended by police, customs and immigration officers which raised thousands and whilst in Jamaica, officers deployed there could actually meet some of the children. More recently support was given to Moira and her small home for abused children.
A better Christmas in Kingston 11.
On one occasion, with Christmas looming it was decided to set up ‘Operation Christmas Stocking,’ in order to give children from the troubled Kingston 11 area a Christmas to remember. At Heathrow, police, customs and immigration officers brought numerous shoeboxes into work, duly marked with gender and age and NOT containing chocolate. They were shipped across to Jamaica in the diplomatic baggage and collected by British High Commissions staff in the commission’s flat-back truck. Permission was obtained from the Jamaican police and local dons to bring the truck into the area where queues of delighted children received their gifts. Alas the bill received from the Foreign Office for the transportation meant that the exercise was a one off.
Abuse and compassion.
As told to me by a friend and a trusted independent photo-journalist: At last year’s cannabis 4/20 festival in Hyde Park, a cordon of police officers was deployed at the Speakers Corner entrance. They were faced by a group of black youths who mercilessly taunted the one black officer standing with his colleagues. Eventually he became so distressed, he was led away by fellow officers. According to the journalist, the behaviour of those officers was compassionate, appropriate and exemplary.
(Interestingly, Baroness Casey referred to the violent BLM protests in London and the difficult situation faced by black officers with colleagues who, she suggested, were not supportive. In fact, my feedback was that officers were absolutely furious in respect of the horrendous abuse suffered by their black colleagues; concern in relation to the abuse was echoed by Mayor Khan).
The officer in the hijab.
Officers will remember Ruby Begum, the Muslim officer who was filmed wielding her baton during disorder involving anti-Lockdown protesters. She received a barrage of racist and misogynistic abuse but was stoutly defended by serving and retired officers. Those officers who worked with her stated she was very highly regarded. Alas, tweets she sent before joining the job which allegedly showed support for Islamist terrorism means that she is currently facing a misconduct hearing.
The gentle protest, the far right and the TSG
I was at a Far-Right protest outside the BBC which then marched to Downing Street. Opposite Downing Street were a group of Sudanese men, women and children indulging in arguably the gentlest protest I’ve ever witnessed involving smiles and songs. After a short while, those of the right realised that the Sudanese were not simply black but Muslim. Chanting ‘Allah is a paedo,’ they moved towards them. The TSG quickly intervened and within a short space of time, three miscreants were lying face down and cuffed. The Sudanese kept on singing.
No, don’t stop the Carnival.
Tragedy at the end of the last Notting Hill Carnival cast a cloud over the event. Having said that, I’ve been to the past four and enjoyed each one. Despite police being accused by activists of being an ‘army of occupation,’ I can honestly say that this Afro-Caribbean celebration saw an almost complete absence of tension between police officers and the vast crowds; indeed, relations that I witnessed over many hours were positively convivial.
Hurricane Irma.
Hurricane Irma struck the Caribbean in 2017 and hundreds of Met officers were amongst the thousands throughout the UK who volunteered to travel out and help in the aftermath. Unlike my deployments to Jamaica, officers knew that they wouldn’t be staying in secure, comfortable hotel/resort accommodation but they quite simply wished to help. It seems that off-duty, when not looking to preserve law and order, officers assisted in rebuilding of severely damaged properties.
Cherry Picking and absolution.
Of course, as critics will point out, merely ‘cherry-picking case studies,’ does not absolve an organisation from its shortcomings.
Equally, it could be argued that by focussing on the negatives, the Baroness and others also present a distorted view of an organisation’s workforce which, despite those shortcomings, in any 24- hour- period, demonstrate bravery, compassion and fortitude that is largely unparalleled.
There is no doubt that the Met contains a relatively small number of vile individuals who are not wanted by the majority but the constant collective smearing will begin to take its toll; indeed, it almost certainly already has.