Horror of Sarah and why police must earn our trust
EVERYTHING about the Sarah Everard case is horrific. The crime – abduction, rape and murder – is horrific. The way her killer, Wayne Couzens, used his position as a police officer to carry out the attack is horrific.
The fact that several of his colleagues nicknamed him ‘The Rapist’ – and knew of his links with two indecent exposure cases and love of extreme pornography before the crime occurred – is horrific.
And, ultimately, the response from the Metropolitan Police, under whose banner he served as he killed Sarah, has been horrific too.
I can’t imagine what was going through Sarah’s mind as she was approached on a street by a police officer, as he showed his warrant card before handcuffing her under the auspices of a Covidrelated arrest.
I can’t imagine her terror as she realised that something was off; that this was no normal police incident; that she was not being taken to a police station, but was being driven 80 miles away to be attacked and have her life ended; that she had no ability to fight back and no means of escape.
I can’t imagine the feelings of the couple who witnessed her abduction. They drove past as it happened, but thought nothing of it. Why would they? Here was a police officer on a Covid patrol, making an arrest. That sort of thing must happen in London every day. According to court testimony, the only thought they had was that Sarah ‘must have done something wrong’.
That is what is so terrifying. The absolute power that the badge confers. Of course this couple didn’t stop the car or challenge the officer. If a policeman – even in plain clothes – is seen handcuffing someone and putting them in the back of a car, then it must be because the person is suspected of doing something wrong.
I and every woman I know have, at some point or other, felt unsafe on the streets. We’ve sped up because of footsteps behind us, or we’ve crossed the road as we’ve approached a man who’s
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acting aggressively or is very drunk, or his behaviour is in some other way off. We’ve all taken longer routes home to avoid darker streets, or open ground, or a rougher area of town.
We’ve taken keys out of our bag to use as a makeshift weapon or we’ve turned our phone on with a number ready to dial in case we need to reach out.
We’ve all promised to text when we got in, just so friends know we’re home safe – and had friends promise to do the same – with the unspoken pact that if the text doesn’t come, someone will check we’re OK and raise the alarm if there’s no answer.
Underpinning all of these selfprotections is the security that if something bad happens to a single woman walking home, the ultimate recourse is to go to the police; that officers will deliver us from evil. Not that a member of the police will be the deliverer of evil, because what then?
That is why this case is so horrific. And the fact the Met can’t see this elemental shattering of trust is devastating. Putting out press releases trying to spin away Couzens as an ‘ex’ or ‘former’ officer. No, he was in the force and he used his damned badge to rape and kill a woman.
TO issue guidance telling women to verbally challenge officers if they feel in danger, or call 999, start chapping doors or flag down a bus is ludicrously unrealistic and grim in the extreme. Instead, the Met needs to pony up resources to ensure officers patrol in twos so there are no Sarah-like challenges for the next few months.
And how about someone in the Met, and for that matter all police forces, listening to former chief superintendent Parm Sandhu when she explains why female officers are afraid to report dodgy, sexist or aggressive colleagues because they’re scared they’ll be abandoned while dealing with violent call-outs. ‘Male police officers will then close ranks and the fear that most women police officers have got is that when you are calling for help, you press the emergency button or your radio, they’re not going to turn up and you’re going to get kicked-in in the street.’
If fully trained female police officers are too scared to challenge their male colleagues, how can lone civilian women ever be expected to?