Anti-Black discrimination 'baked' into Met - review

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

- By GEORGE LITHGOW

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”.