The Met review – should the BBC really be airing a puff piece for London police? https://ift.tt/FMq7tZ3 Lucy Mangan With rape and murder convictions for ex-officers, plus an official report condeming the force’s bigotry, this showreel of a documentary feels questionable. Is it really the right choice? Now does not seem the time to broadcast a puff piece of a documentary about the Metropolitan police. On the other hand, it is exactly the time. What institution wouldn’t want to try to repair the extraordinary damage done by Sarah Everard’s kidnap, rape and murder by serving officer Wayne Couzens (nicknamed “The Rapist” at his previous job) and the excessive force used at a vigil held largely by women to commemorate her death? By the inquest in 2021 that found the force’s failings probably contributed to the deaths of three of the four men killed by “the Grindr killer” Stephen Port? By the officers dispatched to protect the scene of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman’s murders, who shared images via WhatsApp of the sisters (or, as one of the Met’s unfinest described them, “two dead birds”)? By the strip-searching of Child Q at school without another adult present (soon found to be a far from unique case) and while knowing that she had her period? By the jailing of officer David Carrick for a minimum of 30 years for “a catalogue of violent and brutal sexual offences” including 24 rapes – who was not investigated during his time with the Met, despite a litany of complaints and allegations against him? And much, much more soul-destroying headline news that we do not have space to detail here. This, then, is the context in which the BBC’s The Met: Policing London appears. It begins with an acknowledgement of Couzens’ existence and of “a report” (by Baroness Casey after a year of investigation) that found the Met to be “institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic” and a clip of the police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley vowing to restore public trust. It doesn’t mention that Louise Casey’s report found that the force might need to be dismantled to have a chance to purge it of all the rot therein. Instead, we are smoothly moved towards a view of the essential nobility and courage of the force because even when it is “facing an uncertain future, crime never stops”. The Met: Policing London aired on BBC One and is available on iPlayer. Continue reading... https://ift.tt/z2p6ykm October 25, 2023 at 12:00AM

With rape and murder convictions for ex-officers, plus an official report condeming the force’s bigotry, this showreel of a documentary feels questionable. Is it really the right choice?

Now does not seem the time to broadcast a puff piece of a documentary about the Metropolitan police. On the other hand, it is exactly the time. What institution wouldn’t want to try to repair the extraordinary damage done by Sarah Everard’s kidnap, rape and murder by serving officer Wayne Couzens (nicknamed “The Rapist” at his previous job) and the excessive force used at a vigil held largely by women to commemorate her death? By the inquest in 2021 that found the force’s failings probably contributed to the deaths of three of the four men killed by “the Grindr killer” Stephen Port? By the officers dispatched to protect the scene of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman’s murders, who shared images via WhatsApp of the sisters (or, as one of the Met’s unfinest described them, “two dead birds”)? By the strip-searching of Child Q at school without another adult present (soon found to be a far from unique case) and while knowing that she had her period? By the jailing of officer David Carrick for a minimum of 30 years for “a catalogue of violent and brutal sexual offences” including 24 rapes – who was not investigated during his time with the Met, despite a litany of complaints and allegations against him? And much, much more soul-destroying headline news that we do not have space to detail here.

This, then, is the context in which the BBC’s The Met: Policing London appears. It begins with an acknowledgement of Couzens’ existence and of “a report” (by Baroness Casey after a year of investigation) that found the Met to be “institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic” and a clip of the police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley vowing to restore public trust. It doesn’t mention that Louise Casey’s report found that the force might need to be dismantled to have a chance to purge it of all the rot therein. Instead, we are smoothly moved towards a view of the essential nobility and courage of the force because even when it is “facing an uncertain future, crime never stops”.

The Met: Policing London aired on BBC One and is available on iPlayer.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/FMq7tZ3