By Gavin Mackintosh-
Metropolitan police officers were caught sharing messages about hitting and raping women, and making racist and homophobic remarks, as part of an offensive culture in Britain’s biggest force, an official report has revealed.
The disgraceful officers based mainly at the Charing Cross police station in central London, have contributed to bringing the reputation of their profession to disrepute by their actions between 2016 and 2018.
The shocking messages also included a reference to the Holocaust, deaths of black babies and violence against the public, with the conduct amounting to bullying and harassment, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog found.
The messages were shared among a group of up to 19 officers. The IOPC said the hateful and offensive remarks were part of a Met culture that needed to be rooted out.
The IOPC released details of the messages shared via WhatsApp or Facebook among members of the squad, which has now been disbanded. Some of the officers resigned before disciplinary measures could be handed out to them, exposing a weak system that allows officers who resign before disciplinary action get away with their misconduct. The findings heap further pressure on Met chief Cressica Dick to address the rotten culture in the force.
In November two Metropolitan Police officers were jailed for sharing images on WhatsApp of the bodies of two murdered sisters.
Rape
The report reveals one male officer wrote to a female officer: “I would happily rape you … if I was single … if I was single I would happily chloroform you.”
Another officer talked about getting women into bed and advocated violence: “Getting a woman into bed is like spreading butter. It can be done with a bit of effort using a credit card, but it’s quicker and easier just to use a knife.”
The shameless bunch of demented police officers also wrote about attending a festival dressed as known sex offenders and a molested child.
“Numerous messages about rape and ‘raping’ each other” were sent in two WhatsApp group and one Facebook group.
One officer messaged another saying he was going to attack his partner, stating: “Swear to got [sic] I’m going to smack her”.
Another message revealed an officer bragging about visiting a sex worker when he was using steroids.
The IOPC said those officers who knew about the messages had been afraid to challenge or report it. Its report said: “Several spoke of how when people spoke out about this behaviour, they were harassed, humiliated and excluded. Challenging sexual harassment led to additional problems.
“Female officers told us they would be treated as the ‘weary female’, told it was part of police culture, that they should accept, ‘play the game or stay quiet’, or leave. We also obtained evidence that reports of sexual harassment were not dealt with sensitively within the MPS [Metropolitan police service].”
Messages sent between the officers threatened those who were thinking about breaking the silence, included: “There’s a few of those grassing c***s I would like to knife.”
“I had that massive fight with my bird because she found out I’d been out on the piss with this girl who’s a high class hooker a couple of weeks ago Hahahah”
Officer 2: “I had one in Watford from adult work. Used to f*** her all the time”
Officer 1: “Yes! Hahaha”
Officer 2: “Used just hang out and blast her on the sly…when I was on [ste]roids and needed it every hour”
FEAR
The IOPC said the messages showed attitudes that left ethnic minority and female staff in fear and could show officers being discriminatory to their colleagues and staff. The officers also shared a series of racist messages.
These included: “PWPEHCLM – People with pre-existing heart conditions lives matter. Should of offered him a kit kat and a nice lie down. Murdering cunts” and “Bring all the lefties I say, we can sing ‘cum by ya’ and embrace our multi gender/ethnic and sexual backgrounds whilst denouncing all the fascists in the MET.”
There were also messages containing abuse against Muslims and disabled people.
The IOPC said the behaviour was part of an offensive Met police culture, not just rogue individuals. “We believe these incidents are not isolated or simply the behaviour of a few ‘bad apples’.”
The watchdog added: “The culture of bullying appears to have been accepted and not challenged. A reason for not reporting such behaviour was a lack of confidence that it would be dealt with effectively and fear of repercussions. In one case, allegations of bullying were not dealt with effectively or promptly by the supervisor who was in a relationship with the person making the allegations.”
Of the 14 officers investigated, two were sacked for gross misconduct, and banned from being police officers again. Misconduct was proven against another two, with one officer receiving a written warning, while another four faced measures to improve their performance.
Bas Javid, the Met deputy assistant commissioner, said: “I am angry and disappointed to see officers involved in sharing sexist, racist and discriminatory messages. It’s clear we have a lot of work to do to ensure bullying and discrimination does not exist in any part of the Met.
“The actions of these officers between 2016 and 2018 were unacceptable, unprofessional, disrespectful and deeply offensive. I read their messages with increasing disgust and shame. We recognize that there is need for real change in the Met.”
The IOPC said it reviewed thousands of messages and some officers tried to defend them claiming that they were “banter”, an excuse that was not accepted.
Sal Naseem of the IOPC said: “The relationship between the police and the public is critical to maintaining the principle of policing by consent. The concerns about behaviour and culture addressed in our report, if allowed to continue and go unchallenged, risked causing serious damage to that relationship.”