A Diagnosis, Not a Cure
For those who follow news of the Metropolitan Police with only the most vague interest, the findings of the Casey Review will be of no surprise.
Institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic is the conclusion and this comes only two years after the force was also found to be corrupt.
The problem is that the review itself does not change anything. In theory such a damning report card should lead to root and branch reform but the likelihood is that it will not.
Of course everyone has said the right things. Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, spoke about reform and noted that there was “a long road to recovery” for the Met. The new commissioner, Mark Rowley, expressed his own “shame and anger”.
Rowley should be given a chance to make changes and succeed in the role but he is fighting an uphill battle and it will be difficult when he rejects Casey’s definition of institutional racism, sexism, and homophobia. The Review is critical of previous chiefs and while Casey describes her findings as a ‘gift’ to the new commissioner, it is almost like she too does not realise what it means for such problems to be ‘institutional’.