Inside the Met's misogyny battle

A reputation in tatters. Trust at an all-time low. But with a vow to fix things by the new year, how is the force doing?

- ANTHONY FRANCE

Outside New Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police’s headquarters on Victoria Embankment, the day is just beginning as hundreds of staff arrive for work. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley is one of them, dropped off by his chauffeur near the iconic rotating sign and accompanied by close protection officers into a side entrance.

The enormity of not only running a £3.5 billion organisation, but entirely transforming it, is etched on his face. Scandal after scandal has hit the force, not just appalling crimes committed by officers, but also a toxic culture of sexism, racism and homophobia in the ranks uncovered by Baroness Casey in her searing review. The reputation of Britain’s largest police service is in tatters, and public trust is at an all-time low, a new City Hall survey suggests. Can the Met turn itself around?

Back in January 2023, its chief vowed to do just that — and in only two years. As the new year looms, Rowley finds himself under mounting pressure to provide evidence of the promised transformation. The first step for many would be in publicly admitting how toxic and misogynistic it had become. Some victims believe senior officers are simply not listening to a groundswell of negativity, which first began to bubble in 2020. Mina Smallman was horrified to learn that after her daughters, Nicole, 27, and Bibaa, 46, were murdered by 18-year-old Danyal Hussein in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, their bodies had been photographed by two police officers guarding the scene.

The next year, 2021, Sarah Everard was kidnapped and murdered by Pc Wayne Couzens. Her killing shone a spotlight on the Met’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command (PaDP) where Couzens worked and has led to several more being rooted out. These appalling crimes were followed by an extraordinary slew of scandals — which the Met is playing whack-a-mole to deal with.