The finding that the force is institutionally racist echoes that of the Macpherson Inquiry in 1999, which took place after Stephen Lawrence’s murder and the abject failures in how the Met investigated his death.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he accepts the “diagnosis” of prejudice in the force, but would not use the term institutional because he views it as politicised and ambiguous.īaroness Casey said she was disappointed that he would not accept the term, but said she will wait to see what action the force takes in the coming weeks and months. The review by Baroness Louise Casey, commissioned in the wake of Sarah Everard’s murder, is “rigorous, stark and unsparing”, she said. It found that there are racist officers and staff and a “deep-seated homophobia” exists in the organisation.

It has failed to protect the public from officers who abuse women, organisational changes have put women and children at greater risk and female officers and staff routinely experience sexism, the report added. The Metropolitan Police Service, which has more than 34,000 officers, must “change itself” or risk being broken up, the report published on Tuesday said. Britain’s biggest police force is institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic, according to an independent review commissioned after a young woman was raped and killed by a serving officer.