Racism, corruption, and abuse: Inside Britain’s biggest police purge

The release of files and evidence from Metropolitan Police (London) officers has once again placed the force at the center of outrage over racism.

According to The Guardian, secret recordings over a seven-month period at a London police station revealed officers calling for migrants to be shot, boasting about excessive use of force, dismissing rape complaints, and making anti-Muslim remarks.

Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, admitted that his force had inherited a toxic legacy of deep-rooted prejudice.

One video — also broadcast on UK national television — showed an officer rejecting the complaint of a pregnant woman who said she had been kicked in the stomach by a man, before releasing the suspect on bail.

Other officers were recorded using slurs against Muslims and migrants. One officer spoke openly about extreme violence against Muslims, saying: “In my view, every foreigner is the worst person you can deal with.” Regarding an overstaying migrant, he added: “Either put a bullet in his head or deport him.”

A sergeant was caught making repeated sexual remarks, while other files documented officers discussing ways to injure suspects, avoid confessions, and falsify statements after using excessive force.

The 2023 report into racism within the police — prompted by the murder of Sarah Everard by an on-duty Metropolitan officer — concluded that the force is “institutionally racist.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that long-overdue additional investigations into the Metropolitan Police would soon be announced.

Rowley, appointed Commissioner in 2022, rejected the term “institutionally racist,” though he acknowledged serious failings and a toxic culture.

Since Rowley’s appointment in September 2022, the Met claims to have dismissed 1,500 officers who fell below expected standards.

Rowley stated: “The behavior depicted in these files is reprehensible and utterly unacceptable. Officers who act in such horrific and criminal ways betray our communities.”

He pledged that when there is undeniable evidence of racism, Islamophobia, or boasting about excessive force, those responsible will face rapid disciplinary hearings within weeks, likely leading to dismissal.

Rowley added that he is currently leading “the largest purge of corrupt officers in British history,” claiming that the Met is relentlessly arresting and firing staff, with 11 dismissals every week — more than three times the rate of previous failed approaches that left behind this toxic legacy.

So far, nine officers have been suspended, while the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has placed 11 others under investigation for gross misconduct, with one officer facing a criminal probe for perverting the course of justice.