Anti-black discrimination ‘baked’ into Met Police, review warns

Discrimination is “baked” into the HR systems of the Metropolitan Police, a review of anti-black racism within the force has warned.

The probe concluded that the Met’s systems, leadership, governance and culture are producing racial harm.

Shereen Daniels, author of 30 Patterns Of Harm: A Structural Review Of Systemic Racism Within The London Metropolitan Police Service, said discrimination is “baked” into the “institutional design” of the force.

“Plans that ignore this will always return to the same logic, manage perception, avoid power, thus continuing the cycle,” she added.

The internal review, commissioned from the consultancy HR Rewired, said darker skinned staff are “labelled confrontational” while lighter skinned staff may receive quicker empathy and leniency.

The report draws on more than 40 years of evidence showing how racism has shaped the Met’s relationship with black communities and affected black officers and staff.

Scotland Yard said it welcomed the report in full and recognised the scale of the challenges set out.

The latest examination of the force comes after Louise Casey’s 2023 review, commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard, found the Met “institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic”.

Reviews dating back decades have criticised the Met for being discriminatory, including the MacPherson report (1999) that called it “institutionally racist” after officers’ mishandling of the Stephen Lawrence case.

Mr Lawrence’s mother welcomed the new report, but said it contained “nothing that I did not already know”.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence, whose 18-year-old son was killed in a racist attack in south-east London in 1993, continued: “Racism was the reason why Stephen was killed and racism was the reason why the police have failed to find all of his killers.

“Racism must be acknowledged, accepted and confronted in the Met.

“In the three decades since my son’s murder there has never been an honest acceptance of racism and how it has affected how our communities are treated.

“The police must stop telling us that change is coming whilst we continue to suffer. That change must take place now.”

Ms Daniels said: “Systemic racism is not a matter of perception. For almost 50 years, reviews of the Metropolitan Police have documented the harm experienced by black Londoners, officers and staff.

“True accountability begins with specificity. When institutions speak in broad terms of ‘ethnic minorities’ or ‘diversity,’ those most harmed disappear from view.

“This work begins where harm is sharpest, because that is where structural change must start. Anti-blackness is the clearest indicator of organisational dysfunction.

“The same systems that sustain racial harm against black people also enable other forms of harm. Confronting this is not an act of exclusion but a necessary foundation for safety, fairness and justice for everyone.

“For the Met, the challenge ahead is to build the leadership discipline to face what the report has revealed and act on its findings in a way that protects the public rather than the institution.”

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, said: “Dr Daniels’ report is powerful.

“It calls out that further systemic, structural, cultural change is needed. I asked for a review focused on the Met and black communities which challenges us to go further in becoming an actively anti-racist organisation.

“London is a unique global city, and the Met will only truly deliver policing by consent when it is inclusive and anti-racist.

“Initiatives like New Met for London and the London Race Action Plan are helping us make progress.

“The level of trust in the Met that black Londoners report is improving – by 10% in two years – but still lags behind others.

“We remain committed to listening, learning, and acting on their concerns.

“Working with black communities and colleagues whose experiences are reflected in Dr Daniels’ report, we will be applying the same resolve to go after the patterns of discrimination that show up in our operational work, and within the organisation by identifying and addressing their root causes.”