Female police officers are experiencing misogyny within the force
This article contains references to sexual violence, sexual harassment, and murder.
On the same day that Wayne Couzens admitted to the kidnapping, rape, and killing of Sarah Everard Cressida Dick, then the most senior police officer in Britain, admitted there was an "occasional bad ’un” in the Metropolitan Police.
That was in June 2021. In the following months, Dick's ‘bad apple’ argument has monumentally failed to withstand scrutiny. Public trust in the police – historically low in Black communities – plummeted further following victims' testimonies about David Carrick, a senior police officer who took “monstrous advantage” of his position to coerce and control (at least) 12 women between 2003 and 2020. He pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences, including sexual assaults, rapes, and false imprisonment, and will serve at least 32 years in prison.
In the aftermath of Wayne Couzens' arrest, Baroness Louise Casey was appointed to review the culture and standards of the Met Police. Her report, which will be published tomorrow (21st March), is expected to heavily criticise the Met Police for misogyny, racism, and homophobia. Ahead of the report's publication, GLAMOUR revisits Women & The Police: The Inside Story, a documentary which tells the stories of three female police officers with first-hand experience of the misogynistic culture thriving within the Met Police.
Presented by Julie Etchingham, the documentary follows Rachel*, who joined the Met in 2020 on their fast-track graduate detective training scheme; Faye, a Detective Constable with nearly two decades of service at West Mercia Police; and Emma*, who is nearing the end of a 30-year career within the service.
Here are six of the most shocking revelations from the documentary:
1. Misogyny and racism is ‘normalised’ within the police
When she first joined the police, Rachel wasn't prepared for just how shocking it would be. She told Etchingham: “There were lots of casual, racist comments and quite a bit of misogyny and victim blaming.”
She also described an incident where she discussed a serious rape case with a police sergeant, who proceeded to “re-explain the facts of the case but put the victim and suspect into mine and his roles” – effectively describing the rape as if it was him doing it to her. After she reported it to his line manager, she was told that the officer didn't know his behaviour was inappropriate as he'd been in the role for a long time.
Misogyny and racism are so deeply embedded in the institution that new recruits have little recourse to call it out. As Rachel explained, “It doesn't take long for you to sort of fall into line, and you become one of them.”
Baroness Louise Casey told the programme that in her report into Met’s internal complaints and misconduct system (published October 2022), she found that “Not one person that we have listened to has had a positive experience of the misconduct system.”
2. A police officer allegedly joked about Sarah Everard's murder
In the aftermath of Wayne Couzens's arrest, Cressida Dick said Sarah Everard's murder had sent shockwaves through the police force: "The Met was angry and shocked – everybody.” And yet, Rachel, who joined one of Met’s Serious Sexual Offences teams, told Etchingham that as details emerged about how Couzens disposed of Sarah's body, a colleague – who was specifically trained to deal with sexual offences – joked about her murder.
“It was also the week, sometime at the end of 2021, when there was a petrol shortage, no one could buy any petrol,” Rachel explained. “And someone in my team who was watching the news with us said in a very jokey manner, “It's a good thing he didn't try and buy the petrol now to burn her body because he wouldn't have been able to.”
Rachel added that she was the only person who called him out for the comment, adding that her sergeant spoke to the officer in question, but it was “quite casual.”
During Couzens' trial, it emerged that he was known to some male colleagues as “The Rapist.” And Rachel was aware of at least one other police officer with the same nickname.
3. Rape victims were discouraged from going through with their reports
Rachel worked on one of the Met's Serious Sexual Offences teams (known as “Sapphire teams”), where officers are trained to be the primary point of contact between rape victims and the Metropolitan police. But Rachel witnessed a sheer disregard for victims who came forward, with some male officers even celebrating when women chose not to pursue their cases:
Rachel said, "If you are a victim of a serious sexual assault and you're calling the police and you're put on the end of the phone with a man who's telling you that convictions are very low, there’s no chance, do you want to proceed with this?
“A lot of vulnerable people or anyone would just say, I don't want to do that. I just thought there was absolutely no hope for anyone wanting to report a crime.”
4. Police staff were allegedly told to delete dodgy Facebook and Whatsapp messages
In February 2022, the IOPC published a report about police misconduct at the Met’s Charing Cross Station, uncovering racist, misogynistic and homophobic text messages sent by officers. In response, police officers were required to attend a presentation about the use of social media at work.
Rachel, who attended one of these presentations, alleges that a senior police officer instructed serving officers to “delete, delete everything that you think could be reported” on their Facebook and WhatsApp chats.
When Etchingham asked if this was a police cover-up, Rachel replied, “Yeah, it was sort of this is the official line that I have to read you, but I'm telling you now, go home tonight and get rid of all the evidence.”
5. Female police officers who made complaints about sexual assault were punished for coming forward
Faye has nearly two decades of service at West Mercia Police, working most recently in child protection. She described being sexually assaulted by a senior male officer who “everyone [knew] was a creep” at a work party. Despite rumours of this officer's behaviour, he'd been promoted to lead the vulnerable persons protection unit.
An internal hearing ruled that Faye's allegations didn't meet the threshold for a criminal investigation. Still, the officer was guilty of misconduct, and his actions had resulted in physical, emotional, and sexual harm to Faye and four other female colleagues .. all of whom were junior in rank.
He was punished with a final written warning and kept his job. Faye said, “It just felt like don't worry about sexually assaulting or sexually harassing your colleagues because you are really good at your job. You're far too valuable to the police service to get rid of you, you can do what you like.”
The consequences for Faye were severe; she claims to have been moved from the child protection without warning or consultation. “I felt that I was being punished,” she explained. “It felt so grossly unfair.” Moreover, she described her decision to waive her anonymity as “career suicide” and is unsure if she will return to work after her maternity leave ends.
West Mercia Police said, "We strongly dispute that the officer was transferred from the Child Protection Team because of the allegations made.
"Inclusion is one of our core values. We want all our officers and staff to feel safe with their colleagues and actively encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses inappropriate behaviour, whether on or off duty, to report this… without fear or favour.
“We are committed to proactively rooting out those who are not suitable for policing.”
Emma, a police officer on one of the 45 territorial forces in the UK, has been employed by the service for nearly 30 years. She explained that due to her seniority, some junior officers sought her advice after male colleagues had sexually assaulted them.
“A sexual assault on a junior officer was reported to me,” Emma explains. "He'd rubbed himself up against her. And she actually felt… his penis through his clothing. And this happened within the workplace.
“I had a duty to report it. He admitted it. And cited banter as the reason he did it. And he’s still serving […] The police never, ever tackle the actual problem. They'll brush it under the carpet and make it go away.”
6. Policing is in crisis
Harriet Wistrich, from the Centre for Women’s Justice, told the programme, "It appears to be too easy for officers to exploit the privileges and powers they're given as police officers. And we see this again and again and again.
“If officers who are complained of are staying in their jobs and even getting promoted, as we have seen, and those that complain are being victimised, sometimes forced out, sometimes even subject to misconduct investigations themselves, then that is absolutely the opposite of justice, it's a grave violation of the basic principles of justice. And what it means is that we have no accountability within policing and that this problem is going to persist and grow.”
When asked how big a crisis point this is for policing, Baroness Casey, responded: “I don't know how much worse it could be.”
*Rachel and Faye's names have been changed at their request.
The Met responded to the allegations made by the former officer 'Rachel' in the film (via ITV News):
"The behaviour described by this former officer is totally unacceptable. It refers to an appalling level of disrespect and it is not what we expect anyone to have to endure.
"We have recently added more ways for our officers and staff to report wrongdoing, criminality and any form of discrimination. We are determined to root out those who are corrupting our integrity and create an environment where victims have the confidence to come forward and know action will be taken.
"We are grateful to Baroness Casey for her ongoing work to shape urgent change at the Met.
"Trust, particularly among women, has been profoundly shaken and we are determined to rebuild it."
In response to the allegations made in the programme, the Metropolitan Police referred ITV back to remarks made last month by Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who said:
“We must improve dramatically for London. But lifting the stone reveals painful truths that will not be resolved overnight…We have to prepare for more painful stories as we confront the issues that we face.”
“As we put in more resources, more assertive tactics, as we’re more open to people reporting incidents both from within the organisation and from the public and as we more determinedly take on these cases, it will tackle the problems we face …. to finally rid the organisation of those who corrupt our integrity.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary has taken immediate action and asked police chiefs to root out any current officers unfit to serve, alongside an internal review into police dismissals, to ensure the system is fair and effective at removing officers who fall below the standards we expect.”
Women & The Police: The Inside Story ITV1 is available on ITVX.
For more from Glamour UK's Lucy Morgan, follow her on Instagram @lucyalexxandra.
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