Words by Jasmine Jones
The Metropolitan Police and other forces across the UK have been branded as
ÔÇ£institutionally sexistÔÇØ as decades of misogyny among officers comes to light.
David Carrick, a serving Metropolitan Police officer since 2001, admitted to committing 49
offences against 12 different women during his time in the force, including 24 counts of
rape. The abuse of power is shocking, warning his victims that he could kill them without
leaving a shred of evidence due to his profession.
ÔÇ£Who are they going to believe?ÔÇØ he would ask them, using his career to exploit and torture
the women who he locked in a cupboard under the stairs and deprived of food before
sexually assaulting them.
With only 1.3% of reported rapists getting charged, it is clear that Carrick knew he could get
away with it for years.
The Metropolitan police under new commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has vowed for a
ÔÇ£turnaround planÔÇØ to tackle the toxic culture within the police force, involving an
investigation into any serving officer who is accused of domestic, sexual, or violent crimes.
The review has brought to light 1633 allegations of domestic violence concerning 1071
serving Met police officers in the last 10 years.
For years, senior officials have used ÔÇ£just a few bad applesÔÇØ as a defence for the misogynistic
police culture in the UK highlighting that the biggest problem is for the Met to first admit to
their failings.
Yet there is still a continued failure from those higher up in the force to understand the
sheer scale of the problem. The problem is not simply the number of allegations, but how
they are then dealt with. Between 2017 and 2020 more than half of those in the Met who
admitted to committing sexual misconduct kept their jobs with zero consequences and
statistics suggest that more and more cases of officers committing crimes against women
are getting dismissed.
When Wayne Couzens admitted to murdering Sarah Everard in 2021, he was described by
serving detectives as ÔÇ£a murderer who happened to be a police officerÔÇØ, in denial that his
role in the force enabled him to commit such heinous crimes, just like in the David Carrick
case. Other cases such as the strip search of Child Q, and the ongoing series of despicable
WhatsApp groups that encourage and celebrate rape culture amongst officers also depict
the unserious nature in which police officers treat sexism cases.
But statistics now reveal that public trust in the police is lower than ever with just 29% of
women saying that trust the police.
The government have responded, with home secretary Suella Braverman promising
CarrickÔÇÖs case will be heard as part of the Angiolini inquiry, alongside Couzens and others in
the force who have abused their power against women. Many question how much of an
impact an isolated inquiry into just a handful of cases will have however when you consider
the thousands of allegations surfacing. There are also calls for the Met to rethink its
selection and vetting process for new recruits, which currently just asks applicants if they
have a criminal record in the interview rather than actually conducting background checks,
allowing for many officers to lie and get away with their crimes.
Police reform needs to happen on a much larger scale, inquiring into the misogynistic
culture in the Met and other forces up and down the country for women to feel safe in the
hands of the police again. More must also be done to ensure that perpetrators like Carrick
are caught quicker and face consequences for their horrific actions.
There must be a zero-tolerance policy implemented towards sexism that holds officers to
account and makes it easier for women to speak up and seek charges against those who
commit violence, rape or any other misogyny related crime.
The Metropolitan Police must now admit that it is not just a few bad apples within its force,
but it is rotten to the core.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/misogyny-sexism-and-predatory-behaviour-
still-prevalent-in-many-forces-warns-police-watchdog-
