Peter Powell / EPA
“Shocking” images were captured by a journalist with a hidden chamber – and spent seven months working as a civil prison agent.
The dissemination of a report that shows London police in racist and xenophobic gestures led to Suspension of 10 agents and to a public request for sorry, But the prime minister requires a “stronger” answer.
Keir Strmer today classified the actions of police officers, filmed by a journalist with a hidden chamber and released by public television, as shocking, demanding that they have a strong and immediate response.
London’s Metropolitan Police Chief Police (Met), Mark Rowley, appointed in 2022 after a similar case led to his predecessor resignation, apologized for the behavior “disgusting e criminal” Of the 12 police involved in this report from the BBC “Panorama” program.
“The behavior portrayed in this program is reprehensible and completely unacceptable,” he ordered even before the full report on Wednesday night.
O Journalist Rory Bibb spent seven months, between June 2024 and January 2025, to work as a civil prison agent In the Chauring Cross Squad detention wing, in the Center of London.
The images of your hidden camera show, for example, a police say that the illegal immigrants deserve “a shot in the head”another to describe with enthusiasm as a Police punched a prisoner that was being immobilized by other police and a sergeant question with contempt for the testimony of a pregnant woman who accused the husband of violating her and beating.
Nine police and another employee have already been suspended, While two others were removed from the service as soon as the BBC made public some images of the report, said Mark Rowley, stating that he “sincerely laments” the acts of the police and ensuring wanting to fight a “Toxic legacy.”
In an interview with BBC, the London police chief acknowledged that anyone who watched the images will have been “shocked and outraged (…) with racism, misogyny and satisfaction in using excessive strength”By the police involved.
Metropolitan police have seen their reputation stained by several cases in recent years, including the abduction, violation and murder of a 33 -year -old woman, Sarah Everard, in 2021 by a police who was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
Almost two years later, a London police were sentenced to life imprisonment for dozens of violations and other sexual assaults against 12 women, committed over a period of about 20 years.
In recent years, they have still been condemned Several agents for taking photographs to homicide victims or exchanging racist or violent messages in messaging groups.
In addition to these cases of great impact, several reports denounced racist, homophobic and misogynist behaviors within the police force.
When he took office, the MET head launched great renovations and made a “Great Cleaning” Police accused of misconduct, also harming the recruitment process.
Although he recognized the existence of “systemic, cultural, management and regulatory failures,” Rowley assured on Wednesday that the metropolitan police are conducting “the largest anti-corruption operation in British police history.”
The team that deals with the surveillance of the detainees at Charing Cross Squad – considered the true center of London – has been dissolved, and Mark Rowley said that “almost 1,500 police and other employees who did not fulfill the standards” were faced in the last three.
About 40,000 people work at the London Metropolitan Police.
