‘Scots police Face the same issues as the Met’
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Police Scotland must act with more urgency to tackle misogyny, racism and homophobia in the ranks after a review of London’s Metropolitan Police exposed a culture of intolerance, according to firearms officer bullied from her job.
Rhona Malone, who was awarded £1 million after she was subjected to sexist victimisation, challenged a suggestion that Scotland’s national force does not face the same issues as the Met.
But Malone, who won a landmark case last year which exposed a culture of misogyny and bullying in her unit, said Scots chiefs face many of the same problems as the Met, including a failure to deal swiftly and ruthlessly with rogue officers. Malone said: “Police Scotland has just as much to answer for asthemetwhenitcomes to bad behaviour within the force, misconduct being mishandled, and rogue officers.
“I’m horrified any member of the public might be lulled into thinking the behaviour that is prevalent in the Met doesn’t happen here. “The unacceptable levels of sexism, misogyny and bullying suffered by female officers shines a light on the culture within Police Scotland. “The force has always had a reluctance to deal with the perpetrators of such behaviour, who are often allowed to remain in post or are even promoted, while victimised colleagues are bullied out of jobs they love. “Their culture is all about preserving the reputation of the force rather than tackling rogue officers.”
Her response comes after the Scottish Police Federation defended Police Scotland’s record after Tuesday’s damning report by Baroness Louise Casey. She found the Met failed to protect the public from officers like rapist Wayne Couzens who murdered Sarah Everard, 33, in 2021, and branded the force institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic. In a landmark review published in 2020, former lord advocate Dame Elish Angiolini urged the Scottish Government to overhaul how complaints against Police Scotland are investigated and warned the national force must address issues around sexism and racism. A number of cases of misogyny and sexist bullying of officers have since emerged.
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone, who has repeatedly voiced his determination to deal with the problems, is to retire this summer, two years before the end of his contract.
After the Casey review was published last week, Scottish Police Federation General Secretary David Kennedy told the BBC the report on the Met was horrendous but that “Scotland was not in the same area as the Met”. However, when The Post spoke to Kennedy on Friday, he said: “The Casey report highlighted serious concerns around the Met and the behaviour of some of their officers. “While Police Scotland are not in the same area as the Met, they are not immune. All our police forces reflect society, and unfortunately it is not always the good things that are reflected. “However, since several high-profile cases have come to light, the force have been doing their best to change the culture that existed. From the dealings we have been having with them, it is clear they are doing their best to change.”
black or gay people to join. Even on a positive employment trajectory, the report says it will take 40 years to have women and minorities properly represented in the ranks.
Once more, police vetting is at the core of this crisis. Why is it that racists, misogynists and thugs feel policing is the job for them? It was shocking to me in 2003 that a racist like Pulling managed to pass vetting while the clear and missed opportunities to have halted Couzens beggars belief.
“Rotten to the core” was how Doreen Lawrence described the Met last week, dismissing the regular claims of “a few bad apples”. Who could blame her after a force that had to be shamed into properly investigating her son’s murder was exposed once again?
She said the Met had “30 years to put its house in order” but failed to do so because “it does not want to, or doesn’t know how to”.
Her comments were a counterpoint to those of Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who accepted much of the review while disputing its conclusion of “institutional racism”. Scathing reports in 1981, 1999, 2004 and now in 2023 warned discrimination was rife within policing. The evidence seems overwhelming.
Casey says she wants Rowley to acknowledge the force has a bigger problem and warns the Met may need to be dismantled if he does not and cannot drive through real change.
Police Scotland is not immune to the same issues. Allegations of racism, for example, are at the heart of the current public inquiry into the death of Fife man Sheku Bayoh, a black man who died while being detained by officers.
For many years, the words “police” and “racism” have been inextricably linked. This latest report feels like the Met has entered last chance saloon. But, according to Doreen Lawrence, any reforms are “doomed to failure” unless there is an acceptance at the very top that racism within the force is institutionalised.
She has been here before and heard the same promises which turned out to be empty. “A lot of people will feel, like me”, she says, “that enough is enough, and change is needed. And needed now.”
Two decades on from my own, brief, time in uniform, Doreen Lawrence, and many others share exactly the same concerns as they did then.