The landmark Casey review has found the Metropolitan police institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. This language – “institutionally” – means that these are not problems isolated to a few bad apples, like David Carrick or Wayne Couzens.
These officers, and many others whose problematic conduct was known to colleagues, remained in post for years. This shows what policing researchers have argued for decades: that the barrel has been rotten for some time.
Police leaders including Sir Stephen House, Neil Basu and Dal Babu have demanded changes to police’s institutional culture in recent years. But to change the culture, we have to understand it.
One way researchers have understood the problems in policing is through the lens of “warrior culture”. This is characteristic of police institutions around the world, and the Casey review shows that the Met’s toxic atmosphere is no exception.
Warrior culture describes a police force with a military-like nature. It encourages repression, regards traditionally marginalised groups like poor people, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ people as enemies. It defaults to using aggression, violence and force, including deadly force, rather than de-escalation. wario shirt
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