Rape may as well be legal in London, Met Police officer said

Sometimes the culture of an organisation is the problem, the good people can get lost in that kind of culture. I work with children with learning disabilities, over the years there have been a number of organisations which were shut down due to bad practice, there were whole panaroma programmes dedicated to them. I never felt this reflected on me personally, I was glad that kind of behaviour had been exposed.

I don’t think people are condemning all Met officers (or those in any force) so much as saying that the fact that there are good ‘apples’ is not a good enough excuse for not rooting out the bad ones.

And finally please remember that no matter how many hours have been put into an investigation it is the CPS who decide whether or not to proceed with a prosecution. Police Officers are used to all their efforts gathering evidence being dismissed by CPS who only want to prosecute those cases they think have a very good chance of success.

As the mother of an excellent, honest, exemplary police officer who has given his all to the service, it really hurts to read the total, absolute condemnation of the Met. Yes there are officers who need to be culled, and this should be a more straightforward practice, but imagine if we suggested all doctors were Harold Shipmans, all nurses Beverly Allitts, all corrupt teachers, lecturers, social workers, probation officers, careworkers etc were the typical examples of their professions? There would be uproar, but apply to the police and you're fine. Good police are leaving in their droves, they're fed up of the cross contamination. My son acknowledges it wasn't the service he signed up to, but when all like him have left the service, I fear what we'll be left with.

I think the good apples are mentioned a lot - in fact they seem to be the main defence of the top brass, as though they can somehow cancel out the bad apples. They can’t - it doesn’t matter how many honest officers there are, if the culture allows the corrupt ones to flourish.

MaizieD

Chestnut

As I said, the suggestion was for high ranking Police officers to be younger women, not for the entire Police force to be female, which would be unworkable anyway. If women were running the show things might be very different.

Er, wasn't the last Met Commissioner a woman?

I'll repeat what I wrote so you get it:
There was an article suggesting that the high ranking officers be women under the age of 50. They have come up through the ranks with a very different attitude and work ethic to the older women like Cressida Dick.

Apparently repeat vetting procedure for officers is quite informal. They fill in the form themselves. Might get looked at by senior officer, but generally just signed off. No wonder the force is riddled with such shocking characters who don’t get found out.

I’d like to see the size of the women who could overpower my father when he went on a drunken rant.
At one time a local pub called the police and 7 turned up.

Chestnut

As I said, the suggestion was for high ranking Police officers to be younger women, not for the entire Police force to be female, which would be unworkable anyway. If women were running the show things might be very different.

Er, wasn't the last Met Commissioner a woman?

This is why I didn’t press charges. Putting myself through all that in court just for him to walk away at the end of it would be like being raped all over again.

Chestnut I agree.

As I said, the suggestion was for high ranking Police officers to be younger women, not for the entire Police force to be female, which would be unworkable anyway. If women were running the show things might be very different.

There are the good apples and they never seem to be mentioned. With the violence a lot are subjected to or possible violent situations they go to no wonder there is a of aggressive behaviour. Bullying though is something else and needs to be sorted. There will be officers who would like to report inappropriate behaviour towards both officers and public but could then become a target themself if they do take action. Stricter recruitment standards, employment standards and penalties and a big increase in the number of officers in the Met to lessen the stress, help support front line officers wouldn't go amiss. I know two officers who are leaving to become train drivers. Twice the salary, less aggravation from the beautiful public, better work-life balance, cheap travel, who wouldn't!

Fernhillnana- Would an all female police force be physically strong enough to cope with some of the violent offenders? I’m not sure they would, although that’s not a field I have any experience of, thankfully. I think you need a combination of male and female personnel within a police force. It’s easy to forget that there are many male police officers in the Uk who are working exceptionally hard and doing a great job despite the constant financial cut backs.

Yes, it makes for sad and depressing reading, but if they do actually start charging and investigating, what did he say, ten cases per week, it might start to make a difference.

Fernhillnana

I’ve been wondering about this for a while and I’d be interested to know what gransnetters think…what would be the impact of an all female police force?

There was an article suggesting that the high ranking officers be women under the age of 50. They have come up through the ranks with a very different attitude and work ethic to the older women like Cressida Dick. Sounds like a plan........

I’ve been wondering about this for a while and I’d be interested to know what gransnetters think…what would be the impact of an all female police force?

My huband and I are both retired police officers in the North of England. We know for certain that this situation in the Met has been brewing for at least 40years. To our knowledge it has always been well known that if you wanted to join up and failed your local force’s entrance test you practically only had to have a pulse to get into the Met.
Its no wonder that there is this mysogenistic , racist , sexist and anti lgtbq culture.
I would say that to put it right and build up trust again the Met will have to be torn apart to start from scratch.

The situation in London is dreadful. I’m told that in comparison Cumbria Constabulary has for the 5th month in a row been first in the country for convictions at court for VAWG offences with a 84-87% ending in a guilty plea or verdict. Their chief constable is the National Police Chiefs Council lead for Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent offenders, a role she is passionate about. Lessons to be learned. Maybe the Met is too large a force.

Katie59

We have to remember that hate, discrimination and sex crimes are very emotive and suspending every police officer or other public official on flimsy accusations is going to quickly become unmanageable.

I would posit that a sex crime is never flimsy. It is a violent physical assault. Emotive yes. But then so is GBH.

Putting sex crime into the same category as a verbal insult just shows how little British society values women.

WonderBra

Katie59 but that's the type of attitude that has made it the way it is - and 'flimsy accusations' very much plays into the 'oh it's just women making it up' narrative that is so prevalent, and gets so many rapists off the hook.
Maybe, just maybe, if they did start suspending people accused of rape (or other sexual assault / harassment) crimes immediately, then it might just make a few think twice about how they behave, and might just prevent some of these crimes.

The reason that police wear body cams these days is so that unjustified accusations can be dismissed, there are a lot of vexatious accusations made against the police. They also wear a stab vest these days because the risk of someone picking up a kitchen knife when a domestic is being investigated is very high.

Katie59 but that's the type of attitude that has made it the way it is - and 'flimsy accusations' very much plays into the 'oh it's just women making it up' narrative that is so prevalent, and gets so many rapists off the hook.
Maybe, just maybe, if they did start suspending people accused of rape (or other sexual assault / harassment) crimes immediately, then it might just make a few think twice about how they behave, and might just prevent some of these crimes.

In the 1970s Danish police were offhand when women reported rape and a lot of women felt they were treated as criminals rather than as victims.

Then police and doctors took the matter in hand, creating special units both in the police force and in hospitals to ensure that women reporting rape and later, homosexual men reporting it too, were taken seriously and treated with dignity,

So changing police attitudes is possible. You might want to suggest that senior police ask the advice of colleagues in countries where women who report a case of rape are decently treated, evidence is not lost or contaminated and hospitals have trauma unists with staff trained to carry out professional gynaeocological examinations of traumatised women.

In Kent, Domestic Violence is also not considered a serious crime. It just goes to show what the Kent Police feel about women. 35 years ago, after my ex had put a gun to the back on my neck and pulled the trigger to terrify me, the West Sussex police just gave me a crime number and told me to go to the Civil Courts. I have been assured that service has been improved to protect women better but I do wonder. This is the same Police Service who allowed a man to keep a gun knowing he lied about his medical history and then went on to slaughter is wife and children with it. It brings home how vulnerable women are.

We have to remember that hate, discrimination and sex crimes are very emotive and suspending every police officer or other public official on flimsy accusations is going to quickly become unmanageable.