The case for radical change has been well made and is widely accepted, but the Home Office and home secretary are incapable of delivering it
Forty years ago, the BBC broadcast a documentary series titled Police. In the most influential episode, the pioneering director Roger Graef, who sadly died this month, filmed three bullying male detectives interviewing a distressed rape victim in Reading police station. The footage caused a sensation. The furore led directly to tighter rape questioning guidelines.
Four decades on, not enough has changed in British policing. A month ago, Dame Cressida Dick resigned after the revelation that 14 Metropolitan police officers had been sharing misogynistic and racist messages for at least two years. Since Sarah Everard’s murder a year ago, trust in the police has fallen to record low levels; a majority now lack confidence in them to deal with crime in their local area. A high court ruling on Friday against the Met over its efforts to cancel a vigil for Ms Everard shows the yawning sensibility gap between the force and the public.
