Met Police sets out plans to be 'truly anti-racist'

Sir Mark Rowley said he wants the Met to become 'a truly anti-racist and inclusive'

The Metropolitan Police has set out plans to try to rebuild trust with London's black communities which it says have been "let down" over a number of years.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said "there remains a long way to go and there is a lot more work to do", but added the Race Action Plan "was a step in the right direction".

It includes a new stop and search charter, an overhaul of its policy on intimate searches on children and measures to help black victims of crime.

The plans were made with input from black communities across London as well as black officers within the Met.

The new stop and search charter aims to reset how the procedure is carried out.

Tensions over stop and search have included the treatment of two black athletes, Team GB runner Bianca Williams and her partner, Portuguese sprinter Ricardo Dos Santos.

Two Met constables were sacked in October 2023 after a disciplinary panel found their actions during a "highly distressing" stop and search amounted to gross misconduct.

Trust in the force was also damaged after a 15-year-old black girl - known as Child Q - was strip searched while on her period at her school in Hackney in 2020.

Hundreds protested in Hackney after the Child Q incident came to light in 2022

The new policy on intimate searches of children, would, the plans said, increase the "threshold and oversight, ensuring they only occur when necessary and proportionate".

Other changes include improving how black victims of crime are treated.

The measures will range from using new imaging devices to identify bruising on victims of crime, building trust by "improving our empathy and cultural awareness" and working with its partners to reduce delays in the criminal justice system.

The Met says it wants to better represent the communities it serves and is working to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce.

All new recruits are being trained to understand the experience of black Londoners and other communities across the capital, according to the Met.

There will also be better support and protection for those calling out unacceptable behaviour.

Disparities in the Met's misconduct system are also being tackled, while new workshops to improve promotion rates have helped to raise pass rates for black officers from 68% to 75% since 2021.

Updates on the progress of the plan will be given twice a year.

The aim is for the Met to become "a truly anti-racist and inclusive organisation", according to Sir Mark.

He said: "Black Londoners have been let down by the Met over many years and while we continue to take steps in the right direction, there remains a long way to go and there is a lot more work to do.

"Action, not words, will rebuild trust in our service, so we must now remain focused on delivering real change that is seen and felt by our communities and our workforce."

Sir Mark added the force is changing "our systems, our processes, culture and our leadership" and working closer with communities.

He added: "To achieve this critical change once and for all will take time, but I am determined that we will continue to strengthen our relationship with black Londoners - whether that be members of the public or our own colleagues - and renew the principle of policing by consent."