Is It Time To Abolish The Met?

[sunny-dave]

Given the seemingly endless litany of revelations about corruption/incompetence/racism/homophobia et bloody cetera, is it time that we just said 'enough is enough' and abolished the Metropolitan Police?

Sack everyone of Chief Inspector rank or above (with no pension - they knew what was going on and condoned it) and offer all other officers a choice of being busted to PC rank and staying in London, or transferring to a less corrupt force in the sticks.

Then move in a clean command structure from a Police Force with (as much as any have) a clean record - probably from a Northern rural county - and start again.

It just couldn't be any worse than it is now ...

[woofgang]

I have got a relative in the Met. the person is clean and their team are. Its a real shame that the behaviour of a filthy few are tarring the rest.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

The larger an organisation the more corruption can be found. It's simple scaale.
That's why the Met, West Midlands and Manchester forces all come under fire.
Maybe break them down into more manageable sizes?
It's a tough question but I don't think the Met are inherently corrupt. I don't think any police force is.

[sp1814]

sunny-dave

I know where you're coming from, but I have to say - every time I've had to speak to an officer from the Met, I've been impressed by their professionalism and attitude.

Please don't be taken in by those who hold certain 'right wing views'. Our Police Service' is something to be proud of.

Apart from the fat ones.

I mean really...

[Peter Pedant]

.

Oh God this is a bit of a craxy thread....
no it is nt time to abolish the Met - because we need a police force in the capital.

If any one is having a lucid interval - then the report is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stephen-lawrence-independent-review

and I have to say it is a bit of a shocking read.

The secret dept was Operation Othone ( yes tha is the ablative of Otho, ROman Emperor in 69 AD ) and the records [secret] were shredded in 2004 and no records were kept about their destruction or the decision to do so.

well not they werent.....a partial copy was found in Mrs Mopps broom cupboard

well yes they were - all the paper copies were shredded. But then they couldnt find any records of how the Met had tried to find them - and concluded that they er hadnt tried....

The conclusion of the inquiry is a bit of a shock - when you ask a question to the Met, you cant be sure that anyone will try to answer it before they say " after an exhaustive search, no records were found..."

which is where the bit about - "yo cant trust the Met" comes from

[shoota]

You been drinking SD?

[Peter Pedant]

Mojo jo jo West Mids had probz of its own

Chief Constable Dear fired the whole lot ( dissolved the Serious Crimes Squad rather than dismissed them from employment ) in the eighties when there was clear evidence of collusion.

X corruptly destroyed a document. Well it couldnt have been X who was out of the building at the time. So it must have been Y who was colluding with X.
Dear's answer was to fire the whole lot.

Apparently an evidential viddy had an episode of Crossroads taped over it at a critical juncture. Dear did NOT see the joke.
with public support I have to say.

[jno]

it was worse back in the 1960s, wasn't it?

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/oct/01/sir-robert-mark-obituary

and not just the Met

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/corrupt-manchester-police-conducted-hate-1942908

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

You miss my point Peter.
There are corrupt individuals in every organisation.
The bigger the organisation, the more you will find.
It's purely a matter of scale.
The Met is not inherently corrupt and nor is any other force.

[Peter Pedant]

Mojo jo your point is worthy to be used by the Met itself
in its next bout of excuse-making

whenever you find corruption - you say Ah yes that is because the org is big and so this is inevitable, and as such there is little we can do about it - ho hum....

instead of - this is a problem when it isnt elsewhere therefore we should do something about it.

[sunny-dave]

I wasn't suggesting withdrawing policing from London - just a root and branch overhaul of the Police Force.

I also recognise that there are many more honest coppers than bent ones ... but the Met does seem to have a horrible culture of 'all in it together', which prevents the good from exposing or rooting out the bad. It needs changing.

[ludwig]

// Given the seemingly endless litany of revelations about corruption/incompetence/racism/homophobia et bloody cetera, is it time that we just said 'enough is enough' and abolished the Metropolitan Police? //

On this basis we'd also have to abolish parliament and most organised religion.

[sunny-dave]

... and your problem is, Ludwig?

[ludwig]

None really. I just thought it was worth making the observation that if corruption/incompetence/racism/homophobia and our criteria for abolishing things, there's a few other institutions that also qualify.

[shoota]

Like AB?

[Jeza]

I lived in London for over 20 years. I am white and female. I worked at one of the many police sites. When I worked there most were white, the black ones were treated very badly. On the street it was even worse. Can't speak for now but then, yes most were racist.

[ludwig]

^ I was actually thinking of posting that, but was worried about being suspended by the corrupt and incompetent officials.

[ludwig]

Not jeza's thing, shoota's.

[craft1948]

Ahem!

[ChillDoubt]

I know where you're coming from, but I have to say - every time I've had to speak to an officer from the Met, I've been impressed by their professionalism and attitude.
--------------------------
And therein lies the rub. It's going to take 5, 10 even 15 years to get rid of the old guard and the ethos of the newer/current ones to pervade throughout the Met and even then, there will always be a very small minority who will succumb to temptation or work to a different agenda.

[shoota]

It's alright Ludwig my colleagues will protect me and lose the evidence or fit someone else up.


Anyway I'm walking the dog at the moment so it couldn't possibly have been me......