Will the Met ever clean it’s act up?

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Despite continued reports which found evidence of institutional racism in the Met, Sir Mark Rowley has publicly stated that he does not believe that the force is racist (PA Archive)

Like most decent people, I am deeply appalled by racism. It is a scourge on our society, and the perpetrators are beneath contempt. I therefore read Nazir Afzal’s excellent article about the actions of the Metropolitan Police, following the murder of Stephen Lawrence, with great interest.

Just suppose for a moment, that six black men made an unprovoked attack on two white men, killing one of them. What would the Met’s response have been? No doubt, the surviving white man would have been treated as a key witness by the police, details of all the attackers would have been duly noted, and the six attackers would have been quickly identified, arrested, questioned, charged, and brought to justice. The surviving man’s witness statement and subsequent testimony in court would have been seen as being crucial to the success of the investigation and subsequent convictions.

Contrast that with what actually happened. Stephen Lawrence, initially, was not considered to be a victim by the Met and he was somehow responsible for what happened. The witness statement provided by Duwayne Brooks with regard to the sixth attacker, Matthew White, who was not only present but allegedly was the man who initiated the attack, was ignored. In fact, Matthew White, rather than being treated as a suspect, was unbelievably treated as a witness. Having charged two of the men and then seen them acquitted in 1996, it took the Met another 16 years to bring two more of the attackers to justice.