Met is not institutionally racist, says Commissioner Cressida Dick

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has denied that the force is institutionally racist.

Britain’s most senior police officer told Channel 4 News on Thursday that allegations around racism in the Met were not “helpful” labels for the force.

"We have zero tolerance of racist behaviour within the Met," Dame Cressida said. "Just last week somebody was sacked for racist conduct. And everybody knows that is the case.

"We embraced the challenge, if you like, that was set for us 20 years ago by Sir William Macpherson in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in which he came up with a definition of institutional racism.

"I was the person charged with implementing the recommendations and I’m very proud of what we did. I think we’ve come a very, very, very long way."

The police chief said she regularly looked for signs of bias in the way the force operated, and that she was "horrified" to discover that black, Asian and minority ethnic staff in the Met were twice as likely to find themselves in a misconduct process.

Dame Cressida also said she also cared “deeply” about the investigation into Mr Lawrence’s death.

The 18-year-old was murdered by racists in Eltham, south east London in April 1993.

Two of the killers, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were jailed for murder in 2012, but three remain at large.

She said the investigation would be reviewed every two years to see if there was any further evidence to pursue.

"I don’t want to hold out false hopes, but it seems to me extremely likely if you look forward, that at some stage we will not be in an inactive phase (of the investigation),” Dame Cressida said.

On the issue of police stop and search, she said young black men were "hugely disproportionately stabbed and killed" and "hugely tangled up" in the criminal justice system.

She said police carry out stop and searches in high violence areas to ensure knives were taken off the street, with 4,500 weapons removed last year.

Dame Cressida was also asked about the investigation surrounding American paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the Duke of York’s alleged involvement in the case.

She said the focus of the investigation was "clearly" in America, but added the Met would assist US authorities should it be required "at any stage".

"The locus and focus of any investigation in relation to Jeffrey Epstein for example is clearly in America," Dame Cressida said.

"If the Americans need our assistance at any stage, then we will give them that."

Epstein killed himself last August before facing trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.

One of Epstein’s victims, Virginia Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked by the financier, alleges Andrew had sex with her on three separate occasions, including when she was 17, still a minor under US law.

The duke categorically denies he had any form of sexual contact or relationship with Ms Giuffre.

Dame Cressida's comments come after MP Dawn Butler accused officers of racial profiling and said the force was "institutionally racist" after she and her friend were pulled over in Hackney, east London, on Sunday.

The MP for Brent Central, who recorded a video of the incident which was later shared widely on social media, claimed they had been pulled over by officers simply for "being black and driving a nice car".

But Scotland Yard's deputy commissioner Sir Steve House defended the officers' conduct after reviewing the incident, saying they acted "professionally and politely".

He also said it was wrong that officers were facing "trial by social media".

Sir Steve's comments echoed those of Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh, who urged force officials to release body-worn camera footage from the officers involved, saying: "We've got nothing to hide".

After the incident, Scotland Yard said the stop was a result of an officer having "incorrectly entered" the car's registration plate into a computer and wrongly identifying it as a vehicle registered to Yorkshire.

The force said that, once the mistake was realised, the officer explained the situation and let the pair go.

Sir Keir Starmer said the Met Police must take allegations of racial profiling "extremely seriously”, and that the black community must have "trust and confidence" in the police following the incident.