'The people who investigate the officers are the problem’: Black Met officer hits out at disproportionate treatment in disciplinary process
21 June 2024, 15:05
A Black police officer has claimed he was sanctioned by his bosses after questioning the London Mayor over the Met’s disciplinary process in 2022.
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PC Idominik Efeotor, who serves in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection unit stood up once again at the annual State of London Debate to claim Black officers are being subjected to a “witch hunt” by the force’s professional standards team.
He told the event, at Indigo at the O2, that he’s faced several misconduct warnings over his public comments.
“Two years ago I stood here and asked you what you’re doing to stem the disproportionality of misconduct against Black police officers, since then I’ve had several misconducts - one for simply asking you this question.
“My Black colleagues have seen similar treatment - I would now call it a witch hunt - I ask you again what are you going to do to keep us safe.”
When asked if he’ll get another disciplinary for asking the question again, he said: “Most definitely.”
Last year, a review of the culture within the Metropolitan Police, by Baroness Louise Casey, found evidence of “institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia”.
She warned that the UK’s biggest force must make “urgent improvements” or face being split up into smaller organisations.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan told Mr Efeotor: “A couple of years ago, Casey hadn’t been asked to do her report - there was no finding that the police was institutionally racist, homophobic and sexist.
“One of the recommendations she made was for there to be a board that sits in public with experts, to support the police and to hold them to account and we’ve set that up.”
Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, Sophie Linden, was also taken to task on what City Hall was doing to hold the Met to account.
PC Idominik said: “You say you have trouble trying to understand where the issues are - I can tell you them. It’s professional standards.
“The people that investigate the officers are the problem. There is no oversight for them. Who do they answer to? Noone. They do what they want.
“Misconduct is so disproportionate in the way they treat you, it’s ridiculous.”
Ms Linden replied: “The time it takes for those complaints to go through is unacceptable - it means good officers are waiting for judgement and we are checking on that.
“But the second thing is where is that disproportionality coming in and we know through research that white officers are far less likely to be put into the misconduct system than Black officers - what the Metropolitan Police needs to understand is why that is happening.”
“It’s the supervisors and line managers who make the decision to refer to formal misconduct and those decisions are disproportionately to put Black officers into the misconduct system.”
LBC has contacted Scotland Yard for comment.
The accountability of police officers has been brought firmly into the spotlight after senior officers complained morale among their teams had dropped significantly, over lengthy investigations by the police watchdog.
The charging - and naming - of an armed officer, now set to stand trial over the death of Chris Kaba in South London led to dozens of his colleagues downing their weapons and stepping back from duties in a move described by some as a protest.
Scotland Yard insisted there was no protest and that officers were rightly reflecting on the magnitude of their job.
The Home Office commissioned a review into the accountability process.
The State of London Debate is an annual opportunity for Londoners to question the mayor and his deputies on all topics, including crime, transport, housing, the environment and cost of living.
Thursday’s event was overshadowed by a crowd of anti-Ulez hecklers who claimed the London-wide expansion of the ultra low emissions zone last August was “destroying businesses and lives”.
Sadiq Khan hit back saying the London Mayoral elections in May were fought by the Conservatives and Reform as a “referendum on Ulez” and “Londoners gave me a record breaking, history-making victory.”
You can watch the full State of London debate on the LBC Youtube channel.
