I’m an ex Met policewoman who was harassed by sleazy cops – here’s what chief Rowley must do to stop next David Carrick
IN my 16 years as a police officer in the Met I became used to a mainly male work environment with lots of lads’ “banter”.
Officers would pass round porn in the back of the van, some would radio colleagues with the location of a sexy woman walking down the street on a summer’s day.
Looking back, I now wish I had reported this behaviour.
Because, as we have seen with diplomatic protection officer PC David Carrick, 48, allowing a sexist culture to exist in the Met can lead to some very dark crimes by its own people.
The serial rapist — in the same unit as Sarah Everard’s killer Wayne Couzens — this week admitted to a staggering 80 sex attacks, including 48 rapes, in a misconduct hearing.
Tellingly, Carrick was known as “Bastard Dave” in his unit thanks to his hardman persona and cruel behaviour.
Green light to commit his morbid acts People with nicknames like this are often famous in their unit — and Carrick no doubt will have revelled in the infamy.
But where were the people who could pull him up on his bad behaviour?
Certainly when I was in the Met there was a culture of not telling on your colleagues.
You don’t want to stick your neck on the line in case you are wrong.
And in the case of Carrick’s colleagues, what were they meant to report? That he was a bit of a bastard?
But toxic conversations and comments lead to toxic behaviour if they go unchallenged and unpunished.
There are many male officers who could stand up to sexism on behalf of their female colleagues but choose not to.
Once I was on a night out with officers outside my unit during a training course.
After three half pints of lager I started to feel woozy and quietly left and headed home.
But one officer followed me, acting overbearing and pestering me for my phone number.
Luckily I stood my ground and I got home safely but I believe I was spiked that night.
I didn’t have any proof and if I had reported it, I doubt there would have been consequences.
Similarly, allowing Carrick to behave the way he did gave him the green light and the confidence to commit his morbid acts — because he will have thought he could get away with it.
Where this becomes even more distressing is this man could have been stopped . . . NINE times.
From the very start of his 22-year career, there were opportunities for police to background check Carrick after various accusations of domestic assault.
He should have been vetted in 2011 after ten years of service.
This was delayed by six years.
Instead he was handed a gun and sent merrily on his way.
Carrick used his role as a police officer to lure victims into a false sense of security and then intimidated them with the power he held.
Being a police officer is male-dominated and an institution which, by nature has to be aggressive and forceful.
Naturally these types of roles can attract bullies who get their kicks out of intimidation and control.
This is something the Met — and other forces — needs to face up to.
We constantly hear officers say “don’t tar us with the same brush” but they are truly missing the point — much as they did with the Black Lives Matter protests.
Not all policemen are abusers.
But sadly the Met is an environment where, like Carrick, if you are a bully, you are enabled to prosper and repeatedly promoted.
The change in culture needs to come from up high.
The Met’s commissioner Sir Mark Rowley made big promises when he took over from Dame Cressida Dick in September.
Worryingly, on yesterday’s Today programme on BBC Radio 4, he refused to assure listeners that female members of the public would be kept safe from officers under review.
He likes to position himself as the great reformer of the Met — and good for him if he actually pulls it off because it is long overdue.
But so far we’ve only had lip service and soundbites on the subject.
Rowley needs to take swift action.
Firstly, like after Stephen Lawrence’s murder when there was an inquiry into racism, there needs to be a statutory inquiry into misogyny in the force.
This alone won’t stop sexism in the police but we need to know the scale of the problem and the number of victims.
In particular, we need to look at how women of colour — who face both racism and sexism — are treated by the Met Police.
The force also needs to get over its fear of firing officers.
There is a worry that they may be sued over wrongful dismissal, so many bad eggs are hard to get rid off.
Lastly, Rowley should install a Crimestoppers hotline for police — where officers can anonymously report concerning behaviour of colleagues to someone outside their unit or area.
Officers need to know they are going to be held accountable for sexism and not thrive in a culture where concerns are swept under the rug.
- Alice Vinten is an ex-Met officer and author.