Metropolitan Police faces renewed inquiry amid enduring systemic discrimination concerns

The Metropolitan Police Service is set to undergo a new independent inquiry to ascertain whether it has achieved fundamental reforms in response to a scathing 2023 report that identified deeply embedded prejudice and significant shortcomings in its service to the public.

This follow-up review, colloquially termed "Casey 2," builds upon the original investigation led by Baroness Louise Casey, which concluded that Britain's largest police force was institutionally racist, misogynistic, and homophobic, warning that a failure to change could necessitate its fragmentation.

Dr. Gillian Fairfield, currently chair of the Disclosure and Barring Service, has been selected to lead this critical new inquiry. Her appointment, which is anticipated to be formally announced later this month, was decided jointly by the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, under the oversight of London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Dr. Fairfield previously conducted an effectiveness review of the Independent Office for Police Conduct for the preceding government.

The urgency for this renewed scrutiny has been heightened by two recent high-profile incidents, the Guardian reports. The first involved revelations from a BBC Panorama undercover investigation, which exposed instances of excessive force and discriminatory conduct by officers at Charing Cross station in central London. This was closely followed by a Met-commissioned report by Dr. Shereen Daniels, which critically highlighted the force's role in perpetuating "racial harm" against Black communities, characterizing such practices as "institutionally defended" and shielded by leadership and internal culture.

Dr. Daniels' report suggested that substantive progress remained elusive, despite commitments from Met Commissioner Mark Rowley to implement reforms following Baroness Casey's devastating findings two years prior. Andy George, Chair of the National Black Police Association, emphasized the need for an uncompromising approach from the new inquiry's leader. "It needs to be somebody who is relentless in pursuing the truth, someone who gets beneath the rhetoric," George stated, expressing concern that "Casey 2 might be another buying-time exercise," as he believes "things have not changed."

Dal Babu, a former Met chief superintendent and a member of the London policing board established to oversee the force's reform efforts, underscored the necessity of an independent review into Baroness Casey’s findings regarding institutional racism, institutional misogyny, and institutional homophobia. He remarked, "Although some progress has been made, the Panorama programme demonstrates there is much more for the Metropolitan Police Service to do."

The initial Casey report was commissioned in the wake of the abduction, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer in March 2021. That report uncovered a pervasive culture of bullying, demoralization among frontline officers, and discrimination that was "baked into the system" – a conclusion echoed by Dr. Daniels' report two years later. Baroness Casey had cautioned that if sufficient progress were not made, "more radical, structural options," including a potential division of the Met's responsibilities, should be considered to prioritize service to Londoners.

Commissioner Rowley has indicated that approximately 1,500 officers have been removed from the force, with more to follow. While acknowledging the presence of systemic discrimination, he has notably resisted characterizing the force as institutionally racist, misogynistic, or homophobic – a stance that has drawn criticism from advocates for marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ+ community, who seek explicit recognition and dismantling of all forms of systemic prejudice within the institution.