‘Culture of denial and defensiveness’ has led to corruption within the police force says former Chief Constable
The former Chief Constable for Nottinghamshire Police, Susannah Fish, told Tom Swarbrick that perpetrators of abuse “get promoted” whilst the victims are “investigated” and “lose their careers”.
The conversation comes after a watchdog report revealed that there are potentially thousands of corrupt officers working within the police force.
After acknowledging that the standards of policing were in a “dire state”, Susannah Fish disclosed: “Sadly, it’s something that I struggled with for the latter part of my career and I’ve been talking about this for some considerable time.”
“What specifically was the it?” Tom asked.
“The entrenched misogyny”, Susannah responded before adding “racism, homophobia”.
“Speaking out, as I am today, is the ultimate sin - it’s that disloyalty.”
Referring to Cressida Dick’s acknowledgement that there was the “occasional bad-un” within the police ranks, Tom said: “If the former commissioner of the Metropolitan police was not aware of what you say was rife and in your face all the time, particularly as a female police officer, I mean - what an embarrassment.”
“It’s worse than that”, Susannah replied, “because it’s lives that are devastated.”
“This report shares the experience of so many, sadly, women in the service, both officers and support staff, who have been abused horrifically by their colleagues.”
“How has this happened?”, Tom questioned.
“The culture of denial and defensiveness allows it to”, Susannah revealed.
“When women come forward and say this is what’s happened, they’re the ones then that are investigated, they’re victimised, they’re ostracised, they’re isolated and often they lose their career.”
“The perpetrator gets away with it”, she added.
“It’s never checked. There’s no sanction. In fact - quite a lot seem to get promoted."
Finally, Tom posed the question: “Do you think there is any role for someone who has a criminal record to work in the police?”
“No”, Susannah responded.