Met Police boss admits under-fire force has a racism problem

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Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Bas Javid has admitted racism is a problem in the country’s largest force.

Mr Javid also acknowledged ‘people who have racist views and are racist’ are among the force’s staff.

When asked on BBC Newsnight if he accepted racism ‘is a problem in the Metropolitan Police’, Mr Javid replied: ‘Yes, I do.’

It comes as the Met Police Federation yesterday declared it has ‘no faith’ in London Mayor Sadiq Khan after his ‘very public ousting’ of Dame Cressida Dick – as it warned morale among officers had hit ‘rock bottom’. 

Mr Javid, who has served in three police force areas over 28 years as an officer, added: ‘Let me be really clear on this: There’s absolutely no room for racism in policing, and especially here in the Metropolitan Police, we made that very, very clear to our people, anyone who works for us and demonstrates any type of racism or discrimination behaviour will be removed from the organisation.’

Mr Javid, the brother of the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Sajid Javid, said he was ‘extremely disappointed’ to hear interviews on the programme with two black colleagues who said discrimination was getting worse.

‘You know, we’ve done a huge amount of work over a long period of time to make it one absolutely clear stance for anti-racism, and zero tolerance on any form of discrimination,’ the officer told Newsnight.

‘And the fact that you’ve had officers or staff come to you to make allegations, what I’d like to see is an organisation where people feel comfortable to come forward, and report it and deal with it effectively.’

He said it would be ‘wrong for me to stand here and say to you, I haven’t seen examples of racism in my 28 years, absolutely, I have’.

‘But my preferred place would be to be in the organisation doing everything I can to root out racism or any form of discrimination,’ he said.

Mr Javid added: ‘Now, what I would say is there are people who have racist views and are racist, and they are in the police.

‘But what I won’t do is describe all of the organisation as a racist organisation. I think that’s extremely unfair to so many people who work extremely hard to do what I talked about today, which is rooting out racism and other forms of discrimination.’

Former Met Commissioner Dame Cressida denied the force was institutionally racist in August 2020, stating it adopts a zero tolerance approach to the issue.

On the issue of police stop and search, she said young black men were ‘hugely disproportionately stabbed and killed’ and ‘hugely tangled up’ in the criminal justice system.

Dame Cressida also told Channel 4 News at the time she regularly looked for signs of bias in the way the force operated, and was ‘horrified’ to discover black, Asian and minority ethnic staff in the Met were twice as likely to find themselves in a misconduct process.

The Met Police Federation, a body representing more than 31,000 rank-and-file police officers, claimed Mr Khan’s actions have ‘undermined the professional, dedicated and incredibly difficult work of tens of thousands of hard-working and brave police officers from across the capital’.

It came after scandal-hit Dame Cressida dramatically quit as commissioner on Thursday night after the mayor made clear he had no confidence in her plans to reform the service. 

Accusing politicians of using ‘policing and the career of the country’s most senior police leader to deflect from their own failings’, the organisation’s chairman, Ken Marsh, said: ‘This is not a move we take lightly.

‘We have let the mayor’s office know in no uncertain terms how our brave and diligent colleagues deserve better.

‘The atmosphere amongst Metropolitan Police officers is horrendous – it’s rock bottom.

‘Officers in London feel saddened and angry that the commissioner Cressida Dick has been pushed out in the way she has.

‘She was reforming. She was changing. The culture is changing. We are deeply disappointed with the actions of the mayor.’

‘The Federation will continue to speak up for these courageous colleagues. They are being forgotten about by our elected mayor. Enough is enough. Officers have no faith in Sadiq Khan,’ he added.

Last week Home Secretary Priti Patel warned the new Met chief must be prepared to tackle the ‘policing culture’ which has left the country’s biggest force reeling from a series of scandals. 

Mr Khan addressed the issue in the Observer, where he wrote: ‘It has become crystal-clear that there are deep cultural issues within the Met.

‘It’s my job as mayor to hold the police to account on behalf of Londoners, so it was my duty to act decisively as soon as I concluded that the only way we were going to start seeing the level of change urgently required was with new leadership right at the top of the Met.’  

Dame Cressida’s departure – just months after Ms Patel agreed a two-year extension to her contract – followed a barrage of criticism about the force, including over its handling of the case of Sarah Everard who was murdered by a serving Met officer.

A string of other scandals during her tenure ranged from the disastrous Operation Midland into fake VIP sex abuse claims to the jailing of two officers for taking pictures of the corpses of two murdered sisters.

The Met has also been criticised for being slow to investigate the reports of parties in Downing Street and Whitehall in breach of Covid restrictions.

The final straw, however, was a report by the police watchdog which exposed violently racist, misogynist and homophobic messages exchanged by officers based at Charing Cross police station.

Mr Marsh said the Metropolitan Police Federation was ‘sickened’ by incidents that have hit the headlines over recent months, but that they were ‘not reflective of an entire workforce’.

He added: ‘We’ve got to put some context on what we are talking about. The incidents that have taken place are horrific. We do not want these individuals in the job.

‘But the federation will continue to speak up for our good officers. We totally accept that we have to deliver for the public and work to improve confidence, but if you haven’t got your workforce with you then you are not going to achieve what you’re setting out to achieve.’

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson paid tribute to Dame Cressida’s ‘remarkable’ career.

Asked for his view on Mr Khan’s role in forcing her out, and for confirmation that – as a Prime Minister under investigation by the police – he would play no part in choosing her successor, Mr Johnson said: ‘I think the best thing I can say about Cressida Dick is that I think over many, many years – I’ve known her for many years – she has played a remarkable role as the first female head of the Metropolitan Police.

‘I thank her for all her service. It goes back a long time.

‘I wouldn’t want any other issues to cloud what I think, overall, is very considerable record of public service.’ 

A spokeswoman for the Mayor of London said: “It is the mayor’s job to stand up for Londoners and hold the police to account on their behalf, as well as to support the police in bearing down on crime.

“With trust in the police among Londoners shattered following a series of devastating scandals exposing evidence of racism, misogyny, homophobia, harassment and discrimination in the Met, it was the mayor’s view that a change of leadership was the only way to address this crisis in trust.

“The mayor has always made clear that there are thousands of incredibly brave and decent police officers at the Met, who we owe a huge debt of gratitude. But the series of scandals seen in recent years has tarnished the reputation of the police, which is so crucial to policing by consent.

“Downplaying the scale of the change required is only going to hinder, not help, the vital process of restoring Londoners’ trust in the Met.”

It came as reports suggested Dame Cressida could stay in charge of Scotland Yard until after the controversial Partygate inquiry is complete.

Haggling has been going on behind the scenes over her departure day and the terms of a pay-off. 

Her ultimate leaving date could be as far as two months away, meaning she will be at the helm when decisions are made on whether to fine Boris Johnson and a host of other Downing Street staff for lockdown-busting ‘parties’.

The PM is believed to have attended six events under investigation, and confirmed on Friday that he has received a legal questionnaire from the Met.

There are claims he has drafted in a lawyer to write his response and will argue that the gatherings were ‘part of working life’ in No10 during the frenzied Covid response. 

Tories are increasingly alarmed that the Partygate inquiry will drag on to April, perilously close to crucial local elections the following month. 

But a permanent Scotland Yard commissioner is unlikely to be in place before the summer, after a lengthy appointment process.

‘We hope there will be a decision on Monday regarding the timescale of Cressida’s departure, or certainly early in the week,’ a Whitehall source said.

It is understood matters yet to be resolved include the size of Dame Cressida’s payoff for leaving the job with more than two years left on her contract – a sum that could be more than £500,000 – on top of her pension of around £160,000 a year.

‘A new commissioner probably won’t be actually at their desk until the summer. This is not a quick process,’ the source added. An interim commissioner is likely to be appointed in the meantime.

It comes as Mr Khan indicated he would veto any candidate he felt was unsuitable.

He said he would only back a new commissioner who he felt had a proper grasp of the ‘cultural problems’ at the Met.

‘As we start this important process, I make this commitment to Londoners – I will not support the appointment of a new commissioner unless they can clearly demonstrate that they understand the scale of the cultural problems within the Met and the urgency with which they must be addressed,’ Mr Khan wrote in The Observer newspaper.

‘In short, they need to get it, and they need to have a proper and robust plan to deal with it.’

Government sources said the Home Office was keen to work with Mr Khan to appoint the best candidate as soon as possible.

‘The Home Secretary is required by the legislation to take the Mayor’s views into account, and she will,’ a source said.

‘The view is that we simply want the best cop in this job.’

Rules changes in 2014 allow ministers to appoint a foreign police officer to the commissioner role and the job will be advertised internationally, with the Home Office expected to approach the embassies of the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia within days.

However, the most likely scenario is that the new commissioner will be British, sources have said.