Met police institutionally racist, misogynistic, homophobic

[bitchstewie]

How the hell do you end up here all these years after the Lawrence inquiry

Met Police: Women and children failed by 'boys' club', review finds

[ScotHill]

Is it because London is full of aholes?

[Electro1980]

I’d put good money on being able to draw a line all the way back to Operation Countryman or beyond.

[272BHP]

I have no doubt there are issues that need addressing.

But ... if you deployed people like Baroness Casey or Nazir Afzal to investigate any public body or in fact any organised group and they would declare them hot beds of racism, homophobia etc, etc.

I read the Afzal report in its entirety, I don't think I will bother with this one.

[smn159]

This is going to be one of those threads where either the problem doesn't exist or if it does it's everyones fault but the police

[Countdown]

272BHP said:

I have no doubt there are issues that need addressing.

But ... if you deployed people like Baroness Casey or Nazir Afzal to investigate any public body or in fact any organised group and they would declare them hot beds of racism, homophobia etc, etc.

I read the Afzal report in its entirety, I don't think I will bother with this one.

What part of the Afzal report was wrong? Or was it the fact that you just didn't like the findings?

[paul.deitch]

Report only officially confirms what many people, including me, have been saying for years. My contact was in the '70s.

[Electro1980]

272BHP said:

I have no doubt there are issues that need addressing.

But ... if you deployed people like Baroness Casey or Nazir Afzal to investigate any public body or in fact any organised group and they would declare them hot beds of racism, homophobia etc, etc.

I read the Afzal report in its entirety, I don't think I will bother with this one.

Are you saying these things didn’t happen?

“Discrimination towards female colleagues; bags of urine being thrown at cars; male officers flicking each other's genitals; and sex toys being placed in coffee mugs

How a review heard about initiation rituals, including people being urinated on in the shower

One Sikh officer had his beard trimmed; while another had his turban put in a shoe box; and a Muslim officer found bacon in his boots

Almost one in five of Met employees surveyed had personally experienced homophobia”

[bmwmike]

The article on the bbc reads like the police station from Life on Mars - except the 1970's one not the "current day" one. Forcing people to eat food till they puke, sexual abuse in showers as part of induction, excluding people who wouldn't take part (ffs, childish), and as for strip searches of the black girl(s?), appalling. A blight on the entire country. Sounds like a boys club in the sense that they are a bunch of entitled immature kids.

[ZedLeg]

futuramashockedmeme.jpeg

[SteveStrange]

Electro1980 said:

Almost one in five of Met employees surveyed had personally experienced homophobia

Strange statistic. One in 5 officers, or one in 5 L/G/B/etc officers? Why would (or even, can?) a straight officer, who one would presume make up the majority of the Met, "experience" homophobia?

I semi agree with the poster above, the result was always going to end up with the Met being found to be "phobic" in some way, shape or form. I think almost any organisation or body, if investigated to the nth degree, would be found as such.

[bmwmike]

The Met is not just "any institution" though is it - its supposed to uphold the law. Its supposed to lead by example.

Not sure you'd find the same levels of abuse if you investigated the NHS - trimming beards, urinating on staff members. Maybe, dunno - but doubt it exists everywhere. And the place it shouldn't exist - is the police of all places.

[ZedLeg]

SteveStrange said:

Electro1980 said:

Almost one in five of Met employees surveyed had personally experienced homophobia

Strange statistic. One in 5 officers, or one in 5 L/G/B/etc officers? Why would (or even, can?) a straight officer, who one would presume make up the majority of the Met, "experience" homophobia?

I semi agree with the poster above, the result was always going to end up with the Met being found to be "phobic" in some way, shape or form. I think almost any organisation or body, if investigated to the nth degree, would be found as such.

I'm not sure, but someone using homophobic slurs to demean a straight person maybe? It's school yard bullst but it can affect people.

[SteveStrange]

bmwmike said:

The Met is not just "any institution" though is it - its supposed to uphold the law. Its supposed to lead by example.

Not sure you'd find the same levels of abuse if you investigated the NHS - trimming beards, urinating on staff members. Maybe, dunno - but doubt it exists everywhere. And the place it shouldn't exist - is the police of all places.

I thought the NHS was found to be institutionally racist over it's handling of COVID, the way SAT scanners work etc?

And my post was not meant as a defence of the Met, in any way. They have absolutely not covered themselves in glory at all in any way over the last several years.

[SteveStrange]

ZedLeg said:

SteveStrange said:

Electro1980 said:

Almost one in five of Met employees surveyed had personally experienced homophobia

Strange statistic. One in 5 officers, or one in 5 L/G/B/etc officers? Why would (or even, can?) a straight officer, who one would presume make up the majority of the Met, "experience" homophobia?

I semi agree with the poster above, the result was always going to end up with the Met being found to be "phobic" in some way, shape or form. I think almost any organisation or body, if investigated to the nth degree, would be found as such.

I'm not sure, but someone using homophobic slurs to demean a straight person maybe? It's school yard bullst but it can affect people.

Yeah, that's likely, hadn't thought of that

[ScotHill]

SteveStrange said:

Electro1980 said:

Almost one in five of Met employees surveyed had personally experienced homophobia

Strange statistic. One in 5 officers, or one in 5 L/G/B/etc officers? Why would (or even, can?) a straight officer, who one would presume make up the majority of the Met, "experience" homophobia?

My father worked in an office with a dhead once, and said dhead once found salad in the fridge and walked around bawling 'Who's having salad for lunch, how gay is that? You must be gay if you have salad for lunch etc etc'. I'd say that was experiencing homophobia, it doesn't have to be personally directed abuse.

[KAgantua]

OP's username checks out.

[JagLover]

SteveStrange said:

I semi agree with the poster above, the result was always going to end up with the Met being found to be "phobic" in some way, shape or form. I think almost any organisation or body, if investigated to the nth degree, would be found as such.

I think recent incidents have given an opportunity for some to have a pop at them.

Many incidents will "cross the line" but, as well, it isn't a church choir and many organisations with lots of young lads will have lots of banter etc. In a city like London you are going to need people who can keep the peace and they aren't always going to be the most shy and retiring of people.

As with everything it is about balance and ensuring that where behaviour does cross a clearly defined "line" it is punished.

Anecdotally the only person I knew who joined the police was a tall lad, who studied martial arts in his spare time, and wasn't shy about expressing his appreciation of the opposite sex to put it mildly, in ways that would be shocking to the pearl clutching lot. He was probably someone you would want on your side in a scrap though.

[ZedLeg]

JagLover said:

Anecdotally the only person I knew who joined the police was a tall lad, who studied martial arts in his spare time, and wasn't shy about expressing his appreciation of the opposite sex to put it mildly, in ways that would be shocking to the pearl clutching lot. He was probably someone you would want on your side in a scrap though.

So we should put up with stty people in the police because they're also good at violence? I'm sure that would never backfire.

Edited by ZedLeg on Tuesday 21st March 11:12

[Gareth79]

ScotHill said:

SteveStrange said:

Electro1980 said:

Almost one in five of Met employees surveyed had personally experienced homophobia

Strange statistic. One in 5 officers, or one in 5 L/G/B/etc officers? Why would (or even, can?) a straight officer, who one would presume make up the majority of the Met, "experience" homophobia?

My father worked in an office with a dhead once, and said dhead once found salad in the fridge and walked around bawling 'Who's having salad for lunch, how gay is that? You must be gay if you have salad for lunch etc etc'. I'd say that was experiencing homophobia, it doesn't have to be personally directed abuse.

Yes that's how I read it. Perhaps working with an officer who used offensive terms to describe LGBT people, or who implied that they'd treat LGBT people (or crimes against them) differently.