A new independent review has concluded that systemic racism remains deeply “embedded” within London’s Metropolitan Police, affecting both its internal culture and its public interactions — 26 years after a similar inquiry reached the same conclusion. The 126-page report, titled 30 Patterns of Harm, was authored by Shereen Daniels, an expert on institutional reform and racial equity, and commissioned following a 2023 study that branded the Met “institutionally racist, sexist, and homophobic.”
The review argues that racism within the force is not limited to isolated incidents but is instead “built into systems, behaviours and leadership norms” that perpetuate discrimination and shield the organization from accountability. Daniels wrote, “This is not an account of individual incidents but a diagnosis of the structures that make racial harm a consistent recurring pattern.” The report also highlights how race intersects with gender, religion, and class in shaping decisions about who is “protected or punished” within the force.
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The findings come amid a series of scandals that have eroded public trust in the Met. The 2021 kidnap, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, and the 2023 conviction of officer David Carrick for multiple rapes, exposed deep-rooted issues of misogyny and abuse of power. More recently, undercover footage aired by the BBC showed officers making racist, sexist, and anti-immigrant remarks, leading to the dismissal of five officers.
In response, the Metropolitan Police said it “recognises the scale of the challenges” outlined in the report, calling it “a moment that calls for reflection and further change.” Commissioner Mark Rowley, who took charge in 2022, described the review as “powerful” and acknowledged that “systemic, structural, and cultural change is needed.” He maintained that while progress has been made, “there is still much more to do.”
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Daniels warned that the Met “cannot mark its own homework” and urged that progress be measured through “verifiable and felt change” in the lived experiences of Black Londoners and Met staff. Her report echoes the findings of the 1999 Macpherson Report, which first declared the Met “institutionally racist” after the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence — underscoring that, despite decades of pledges, the core problems persist.