UK police force is ‘stretched and frustrating justice system’, Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley told Sky News.
In a wide-ranging interview, the commissioner said that relations with minority communities are ‘difficult for us’, while also speaking about the state of the justice system and the size of the police force. He said that it is London’s ‘shameful’ racism challenge.
Mark says the ‘vast majority’ of police officers are ‘good people’ but the Met’s legacy creates concern among black communities. It is ‘shameful’ that black boys growing up in London are ‘far more likely’ to die than white boys, Rowley said.
The commissioner said that relations with minority communities are ‘difficult for us’, while also speaking about the state of the justice system and the size of the police force.
Rowley, who came out of retirement to become head of the UK’s largest police force in 2022, said: “We can’t pretend otherwise that we’ve got a history between policing and black communities where policing has got a lot wrong.
“And we get a lot more right today, but we do still make mistakes. That’s not in doubt. I’m being as relentless in that as it can be.
“Legacy combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern,” he added.
Rowley, who also leads the UK’s counter-terrorism policing, said black boys growing up in London ‘are far more likely to be dead by the time they’re 18’ than white boys. “That’s, I think, shameful for the city,” he admitted.
“And it’s not simply about policing, is it?” Rowley said: “I think black boys are several times more likely to be excluded from school, for example, than white boys”.
He said the criminal justice system was ‘close to broken’ and can be ‘frustrating’ for police officers.
“But that is a real challenge. I mean, we’re talking just after Brian Leveson put his report out about the close-to-broken criminal justice system.
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