An Epidemic of Betrayal: A Historical Legacy of Police Failure on Violence, Racism, and Trust
The recent BBC Panorama investigation, “Undercover in the Police,” sent shockwaves through the nation. Secret footage from Charing Cross police station exposed a hidden culture of racism, misogyny, and a cavalier attitude towards violence. But for countless victims and communities, this was not a revelation; it was a grim affirmation of a decades-long pattern of institutional failure. The undercover footage is merely the latest, most visible symptom of a deep and festering crisis within British policing.
The police service, an institution built on the principle of public consent, is facing an existential threat. This is not due to a few “bad apples,” but because of a rotten orchard that has been left to decay for generations, consistently failing those it swore to protect.
As one person observed, “Finding a police officer who is not riddled with maggots is like winning the lottery these days.”
A Historical Pattern of Dismissing Violence Against Women
The testimony from Panorama is heartbreakingly familiar. Joanna, punched in the face by her partner, was told by an officer to “grow a pair.” Ava, pregnant and fleeing an abusive partner who repeatedly raped her, was told, “Nobody gets raped more than once.” Claire, after 12 years of coercive control, found police laughed and chatted with her ex-partner as he breached a court order.
This is not a new phenomenon. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) declared in a 2014 report that police failure to tackle domestic abuse was a “national disgrace.” A follow-up report in 2022 found that despite some improvements, forces were still failing to identify the most dangerous perpetrators and that the needs of victims were frequently ignored.
The data paints a damning picture:
- The Femicide Census reveals that on average, a woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK. In many of these cases, there was a known history of abuse, yet intervention failed.
- Rape prosecutions have collapsed. In the year to March 2023, despite a record 70,633 rapes recorded by police in England and Wales, only 2,616 charges were brought, a charge rate of less than 3.7%. This represents a catastrophic failure to deliver justice, creating a de facto decriminalisation of rape.
A Legacy of Institutional Racism
For Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic victims, the failure is often twofold. Ava, a black woman, believed “the colour of my skin meant everything was stacked against me.” Her experience is part of a long and painful history.
- The Macpherson Inquiry (1999), following the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence, famously labelled the Metropolitan Police as “institutionally racist.” It found a “combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism, and a failure of leadership.”
- Decades later, the Lammy Review (2017) found persistent racial disparities in the criminal justice system, noting that Black people were still more likely to be arrested and sentenced than their white counterparts.
- Stop and Search remains a flashpoint. In 2022/23, Black people were seven times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people in England and Wales, despite lower conviction rates from these searches, eroding trust in communities.
- The Case of Child Q, a 15-year-old Black girl who was strip-searched by Met officers at her school while on her period without an appropriate adult present, is a harrowing modern example. The subsequent review found racism was “likely” a factor.
The racist and misogynistic jokes captured by Panorama are not isolated incidents; they are the cultural effluent of an institution that has never fully confronted the racism identified over twenty years ago.
Systemic Failures and a Crisis of Confidence
The problem extends beyond individual cases to systemic incompetence and a culture of impunity.
- The Police Uplift Programme, while meeting recruitment targets, has been criticised for potentially lowering standards to rush new officers through, raising questions about vetting. The Case of David Carrick, a Met officer who served for two decades before being exposed as a serial rapist, is a terrifying testament to vetting failures.
- The Baroness Casey Review (2023), a blistering report into the Met Police, found widespread bullying, racism, misogyny, and homophobia. It concluded that the Met is “institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic” and that public confidence has been shattered.
- The HMICFRS 2022 report on vetting found that too many forces were failing to properly screen new recruits, allowing individuals with known links to criminality or misogynistic views to join the service.
The consequences are devastating. When victims like Claire state, “I would never call the police and I still worry he’ll find me and show up,” or when Ava says the police treatment “was like being raped all over again,” it signifies a catastrophic breach of the social contract.
Beyond Empty Promises
In response to each scandal, from Macpherson to Panorama, there are promises of reform. Policing Minister Sarah Jones’s recent pledge to “root out those unfit to serve” is the latest in a long line. But for the victims, these words ring hollow.
The evidence, accumulated over decades, is undeniable. The British police have a long, documented history of failing victims of domestic violence, rape, and racist crime. The trust that is fundamental to the model of policing by consent is bleeding away. Until the service undertakes a radical, root-and-branch cultural reform—one that actively champions believing victims, eradicates institutional prejudices, and holds itself to the highest account—the promise of “protecting the public” will remain a bitter and empty promise for those who need it most. The police are not just failing to solve the problem; they have repeatedly been a central part of it.
Many people also have the same experience with hate crime:
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