Police poster girl is suing again in spat over ‘racism’
A FORMER Metropolitan Police poster girl is seeking £144,000 compensation for racial discrimination.
Carol Howard, 39, has accused the watchdog Independent Police Complaints Commission of being “institutionally racist and corrupt”.
She told an employment tribunal that the IPCC frustrated inquiries in order to defend accused officers and the reputation of forces.
Ms Howard is a former firearms officer who appeared as a Scotland Yard poster girl – complete with Heckler & Koch semi-automatic rifle – to promote efforts to protect London during the 2012 Olympics.
She quit the Met in 2015 after winning a £37,000 tribunal payout in a race discrimination case and went on to join the IPCC as an investigator the next year.
Ms Howard, of Coulsdon, south London, is now seeking a further £144,000 payout for alleged racial discrimination and victimisation during her six-month stint at the IPCC.
She told Central London Employ-
ment Tribunal that the IPCC was riddled with corruption and discriminatory practices.
She alleged that some IPCC investigators supported racist police officers they were investigating. She told the tribunal: “The white managers I worked with are not independent and believe that their duty is not to investigate wrongdoing officers but to protect the reputation of the police force concerned and its senior officers in particular. They are corrupt.
“In my view the IPCC is an institutionally racist employer.
“It is therefore unfit to investigate claims of race discrimination against the police.
“It is corrupt and not fit for purpose. It is neither independent nor impartial. It protects senior white police officers.”
Ms Howard accused the IPCC of covering up the racism of a senior police officer who she was tasked to investigate. She left the IPCC after it decided against renewing her contract last year.
The IPCC was replaced in January by a tougher watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
It strongly denies all the allegations made by Ms Howard and is vigorously contesting her tribunal claim.
The tribunal, expected to last two weeks, continues.