Police panned over ‘sickening’ texts
LONDON Metropolitan police officers sent each other “shocking” racist, sexist and homophobic messages, a UK watchdog said last week, including jokes making light of the Holocaust and Auschwitz.
The messages were exchanged on WhatsApp and Facebook by a now-disbanded police unit between 2016 and 2018, according to a report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
In one comment, an officer said, “Opened my balcony door and loads of flies flew into the front room. So I got the fly spray and turned my gaff into Auschwitz.”
Other messages included the use of homophobic and racist language. There were also references to so-called Muslim “fanatics” and the use of offensive terms for people with disabilities.
They also made multiple references to sexual violence, including “I would happily rape you,” while in another discussion an officer said he hit his girlfriend as “it makes them love you more”.
British Home Secretary Priti Patel said that being a police officer was a privilege that had been abused by the “sickening” officers.
“It has been clear for some time that there are problems with the culture of the Metropolitan Police,” Patel said in a statement.
“The public rightly expects the behaviour of the police to be beyond reproach – standards must be raised.”
Metropolitan Police apologised in a statement saying, “We are deeply sorry to all Londoners for the reprehensible conduct of a team of officers at Charing Cross Police Station.”
The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he is “utterly disgusted” by the police behaviour detailed in the report.
“It is right that the team concerned has been disbanded and the police officers found to be involved have been dismissed, disciplined or have left the police,” he said.
“Anyone found to be responsible for sexism, racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, antisemitism, bullying or harassment does not deserve to wear the Met uniform and must be rooted out,” Khan said, referring to the Metropolitan Police working in the London area.
TIMES OF ISRAEL
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