The 'bad apple' argument has become the tried and tested defence by institutions being forced to face uncomfortable truths, whether that is being confronted with accusations of institutional racism, homophobia, ableism, or sexism.
This week, the highest-ranking police officer in Britain, Met police commissioner Cressida Dick, invoked this defence when she said the Metropolitan police service suffered from the occasional ‘bad’un’ on the same day that one of her serving officers pled guilty to the rape and kidnapping of Sarah Everard. During the same week of the murder trial for Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, whose bodies were allegedly photographed by Met police officers and distributed across whatsapp, leading to two officers being charged with misconduct in public office.
Aside from the alarming insensitivity displayed by Dick, this comment is hugely damaging to the already fraught relationship between the Met police and women, especially women of colour. It is also a brazen example of gaslighting.
We know that between 2012 and 2018, almost 600 complaints were made against Met police officers for sexual misconduct - including horrifying allegations of assault and rape. In fact, there is article after article documenting allegations of sexual harassment, assault or abusive behavior conmitted by serving Met officers.
In the midst of having to protect ourselves from men we know and men we don’t know, it is absolutely unacceptable that we must also protect ourselves from the very institutions that are designed to keep us safe.
We know that across England and Wales, one woman a week is coming forward to report their police officer partner for abusing them or their children - and often accusing other police officers of complicity in a ‘boys club’ culture. And we also know that the Centre for Women’s Justice submitted a super complaint in March 2021 to the Police Inspectorate, highlighting systematic failures in cases of women reporting domestic abuse perpetrated by police officers - where their loyalty to each other inhibited them from holding their colleagues to account.
Denying the scale of the problem absolves police forces and their bosses of the responsibility to do something about it. It relegates the problem to an uncontrollable wildcard; something unprecedented and unforeseen that just happens, with an extremely unlucky woman paying the price. This mirrors the police’s response to Sarah Everard’s murder, where Cressida Dick went to great lengths to point out that stranger attacks were very uncommon. They are, of course, but violence against women isn’t. None of us was surprised to learn that Wayne Couzens had allegedly exposed himself to a woman just days before the attack he stands accused of, and that this had been reported to the police.
Every woman I know has had some experience of being made to feel unsafe by men. It is an additional weight we walk around with that influences how we behave and the decisions we make. Gender-based violence, harassment, and abuse has become normalised to the degree that almost every woman has some mechanism or rule they follow to feel safe when navigating the world - even though we know that all the precautions in the world will mean nothing unless we also tackle the inequality between men and women that allows violence to take place
The role of police forces is to protect and serve the public. In the midst of having to protect ourselves from men we know and men we don’t know, it is absolutely unacceptable that we must also protect ourselves from the very institutions that are designed, funded and charged to keep us safe. It is a situation I will not accept, as a woman and as the leader of the Women’s Equality Party.
To build trust - and I use the word ‘build’ as opposed to ‘rebuild’ deliberately here - among women, the Met police needs to get its own house in order.
To build trust - and I use the word ‘build’ as opposed to ‘rebuild’ deliberately here - among women, the Met police needs to get its own house in order. That means recognising that violence is premised on inequality and thrives where there is a power imbalance (how often do you hear about someone sexually harassing their boss?). The authority that police are given over us, including their ability to arrest and detain us, makes abuse of power a likelihood rather than an exception. Add to that a culture that rewards hyper-masculinity and loyalty, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for institutionalised misogyny.
Instead of gaslighting us and minimising the problem Cressida Dick and her political bosses should be calling for a wholesale review and action plan to address sexism and misogyny in her police force. This would not only reduce the possibility of violence being perpetrated by police officers, it may even encourage more women to report and help tackle the woeful charging and conviction rates for male violence. Because the thing about “bad apples” is that they tend to spoil the barrel.
READ MORE: 'She Was Only Walking Home': The Most Powerful Messages From The Vigil Honouring Sarah Everard
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