Met chief accepts force may be 'institutionally racist'

Accusations of institutional racism within the Metropolitan Police are sometimes justified, the head of the force has admitted, as he said older white officers could be paid off in order to improve diversity.

Accepting criticism of his officers, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said: “If other people think we are institutionally racist, then we are.”

But he said the police was simply reflective of society as a whole, where many institutions failed to reflect the community they represented.

Sir Bernard made the comments in a new BBC One documentary, The Met, which offers a warts and all look at the force, filmed over a 12 -month period across the capital.

In the first episode, which is to be broadcast on Monday evening, senior officers in the Met can be seen dealing with the fallout from the verdict in the Mark Duggan inquest, the man whose shooting by officers sparked the riots in 2011.

^{Senior Met figures await the Mark Duggen inquest verdict}

It is 16-years since the Macpherson report into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence branded Britain’s biggest police force, institutionally racist.

But asked by the film makers if he believed the Met still has a problem with race relations, Sir Bernard said: “I have always said if other people think we are institutionally racist then we are.”

He went on: “It is no good me saying we are not and then saying you must believe me, it’s nonsense, if they believe that.

He went on: “I think it is a label but in some sense there is a truth there for some people … You're very much more likely to be stopped and searched if you're a young black man.

“I can't explain that fully. I can give you reasons but I can't fully explain it. So there is some justification.”

But he said the police was not alone in failing to reflect the diversity of modern Britain.

^{The Met took 12 months to film}

He said: “I think in some ways society is institutionally racist. We see lack of representation in many fields, of which the police are one.”

Sir Bernard said while there was not a problem in recruiting officers from ethnic minorities, London was changing at such a pace that the Met could not keep up.

He suggested one way to redress the balance so the force became more representative, would be to offer financial incentives for older white officers to leave the force early.

But with the Met expected to face cuts of £800 over the next few years, he said he would need “exceptional help” from the Government in order to do this.

Sir Bernard admitted it had been risky to allow a film crew virtually unfettered access to the force but said he had been keen to show the public that he was “open and transparent”.

The opening episode of The Met also features Chief Superintendent Victor Olisa, a senior black officer, who was brought in as borough commander for Haringey the area which erupted into violence following the shooting of Mr Duggan.

Following the inquest verdict in which the jury returned a verdict of lawful killing, he is shown talking to protesters outside Tottenham Police Station who question whether he was only appointed because of his colour.

He tells the crew: “I have got a colleague who works in a neighbouring borough, who is Jewish and the Jewish community embrace him with open arms.

“I work in a borough with a sizeable black, African community and I think I get more of a battering here than when I worked in a borough with a sizeable number of BNP people. It boils down to race.”

:: The first episode of The Met will be broadcast on BBC One on Monday 8th June at 9pm.