Report author states the Met “can no longer presume it has the permissions of the people of London to police them”.
The report, produced by Baroness Louise Casey, has provided horrific details of officers being “repeatedly raped”, staff urinated on during “initiation rituals” and rape cases being dropped due to a broken freezer. The force may need to be broken up to fix the problems, the report suggests.
The independent review was commissioned in 2021 after a Metropolitan police officer was found guilty of murdering Sarah Everard. Baroness Louise Casey was tasked with finding out how many police officers were breaking the law and their own rules.
The review was carried out over the course of a year, and has found that there are huge problems of homophobia, misogyny and racism in the Metropolitan Police Force, the largest force in the UK.
What is The Casey Report?
The report was released in March 2023 and is over 360 pages long. The report details disturbing stories of sexual assaults, often covered up or downplayed. It also shows that 12% of women in the Met stating they have been harassed or attacked at work, with one-third experiencing sexism.
Lady Casey said that the lifeblood of British policing was haemorrhaging and her report warned that “public consent is broken” with just 50% of the public expressing confidence, even before revelations about the force’s worst recent scandals.
She stated:
Public respect has fallen to a low point. Londoners who do not have confidence in the Met outnumber those who do, and these measures have been lower amongst black Londoners for years.
The Met has yet to free itself of institutional racism. Public consent is broken. The Met has become unanchored from the Peelian principle of policing by consent set out when it was established.
Shocking Revelations
There were a number of awful findings in the report, with several incidents of police negligence. One such case was rape evidence being destroyed after a freezer broke.
The report found that Met officers investigating sexual offence cases have to contend with "over-stuffed, dilapidated or broken fridges and freezers containing evidence including the rape kits of victims".
After one freezer broke down during last year’s heatwave, "all of the evidence had to be destroyed because it could no longer be used".
An email was "sent round to this effect and that it meant that all those cases of alleged rape would be dropped", according to the report.
In addition to this, both Sikh and Muslim officers were made fun of due to their religion, and nearly a fifth of all lesbian, gay and bisexual staff experienced homophobia.
Female officers explained they experienced bullying and humiliation as junior officers.
The report also found that officers were encouraged to delete WhatsApp chats if the messages could be used in an investigation.
One officer - which the report calls Officer E - said "I don't trust my own organisation".
How can PoliceComplaint.co.uk help?
Have you or a loved one been a victim of police misconduct? Do you want answers, an apology, and potentially compensation for your suffering? If you believe you have an Actions Against the Police Compensation Claim, get in touch with our expert panel of Police Complaint solicitors today.
Our expert panel can help you with obtaining evidence, help retrieve any items retained by the police and are experienced in making strong police complaints to the police or prison service for improper conduct.
What are Police Complaints?
Police complaints are investigated by the police force’s local professional standards department as well an independent body, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). This was formally known as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and changed in 2018.
The IOPC defines a police complaint as:
An expression of dissatisfaction with the way someone has been treated or with the service they have received.
In this sense, filing a police complaint is different to taking legal action against the police. Police complaints can be lodged directly to the IOPC and you do not need a solicitor to do so. However, no civil claim for compensation can be made if you only lodge a complaint with the IOPC.
This is important as, sometimes, an apology from the police might not be sufficient. You may feel you need to be compensated for the pain you have suffered due to your unfair treatment. This is where Actions Against The Police solicitors can help.
What are the most common types of Police Complaint Claims?
Our panel of Actions Against The Police solicitors regularly see various types of police complaints.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the forms of police misconduct, but does show the most common cases which our panel are able to assist with:
- Abuse of power – Misfeasance in public office
- Assault and excessive force
- Breaches of data protection
- Death whilst in custody
- Discrimination
- Dog bites
- Failure of police to investigate an offence
- Harassment
- Injury through overuse of taser or pepper spray
- Injury whilst being arrested
- Malicious prosecution
- Mistreatment or denial of rights at the police station
- Trespass to property
- Unlawful imprisonment
- Unlawful recovery of property
- Unlawful stop and search
- Wrongful arrest
If any of the above incidents have happened to you or a loved one, you may be entitled to compensation. Our expert Actions Against the Police advisors can guide you through a potential police compensation claim, and talk you through your next steps.
What are Actions Against The Police Compensation Claims?
Actions Against the Police claims are different to police complaints, though a successful police complaint can lead to taking actions against the police. An action against the police case is a civil claim for compensation following police misconduct.
Unlike complaints, actions against the police are usually pursued through the courts. If you are successful in your case, you are likely to receive compensation from the police and have your legal costs paid for.
This sort of claim may involve a number of different circumstances or situations. Generally speaking, a claim of this sort involves breaches by the police of the following:
- The Bail Act 1976
- The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE)
- The Data Protection Act 1998
- The Human Rights Act 1998
- The Equality Act 2010
- The Code of Conduct for Police Officers
- The Police Code of Ethics
These breaches can occur where the police officer or officers misjudge a situation or use excessive force. Sometimes good police officers act wrongly, and sometimes there are just bad apples. Through these breaches, lives can be ruined, which is why the UK police forces pay out significant amounts of compensation every year to those who have been affected.