Thread by @ManduReid

If you plan on reading the #CaseyReport, you should know that it makes for very painful reading. As a Black, bisexual woman I found it even harder. Here’s why [THREAD]:
1/15
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-650154…

The Met has been telling us for years that they are prioritising ending violence against women and girls. Every time a scandal happens or charging rates plummet, politicians and police leaders say “we’re on it.” But they weren’t.
2/15

Casey’s report shows they were doing the exact opposite. They actively deprioritised and de-specialised violence against women and girls, even though it makes up an increasing proportion of crimes and ruins thousands of lives. Politicians too were snoozing on the job.
3/15

So while women stuck to their end of the deal & reported these hideous crimes, the police were downgrading & under-resourcing them. The impact was clear: rape & sexual offences were effectively decriminalised & women inside & outside #TheMet suffered the consequences.
4/15

None more so than Black women, who are twice as likely as white women to report a rape - with all the courage it requires to report to a racist institution that under-believes and over-polices black people. That kills black people.
5/15

Austerity is part of the explanation of what has happened, but not all of it. David Carrick, now a former police officer and one of the worst sex offenders in modern history, committed his crimes over 17 years.
6/15

They missed 18 opportunities to stop him, and that is because misogyny is part of police culture - at best ignored and often enabled, and even celebrated.
7/15

Trust in the police continues to fall with LGBT+ Londoners too, whilst LGBT+ staff & officers face bullying & homophobia. Gay & bi women in particular face over-sexualisation and intrusive questions from colleagues under the guise of ‘banter’. But no one else is laughing.
8/15

Casey’s report is vital and conclusive. It finds that the Met police is institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic. It also finds that they are IN DENIAL about that fact.
9/15
theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/m…

So while I am enormously grateful for the work that Casey has done to courageously, sensitively and objectively shine further light on the problems in policing, I do not share the same conclusion.
10/15

I have no reason to believe that the same people who have been telling us “we’re on it” are capable of reform. Not least because the people most harmed by policing are poorly represented within it.
11/15

This year marks 24 years since the MacPherson report (which came after the murder of Stephen Lawrence) and countless other reports, investigations and expert panels have told the same story. They are simply not listening.
12/15

And they don’t have to because the mainstream political parties fear being seen as anything other than “tough on crime” (except, of course, when it is perpetrated by police).
13/15

You might expect that all of this makes me feel hopeless. On the contrary, I take courage in Casey’s report because it tells us something hugely significant.
14/15

It shows that women, racialised communities and LGBT+ people are ALL being failed by police. Together WE ARE THE MAJORITY, and policing only works by consent. So it is now up to us to decide what the future of policing looks like.
15/15

And just in case you need a reminder: Along with others, I’ve been consistently calling this out. Here’s a THREAD from last year:
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https://twitter.com/mandureid/status/1490465143314132994

You can read all 300+ pages of the #CaseyReview report here:
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https://twitter.com/casey_review/status/1637967582459297794