Institutional racism in the police?

Vile behaviour by the Police Officers concerned, and I hope they are dealt with swiftly. It is indefensible and shocking.
I have to say I do not think Anniebach deserves the heart of stone comment, it is very unkind and unnecessary, she is a bereaved Mother herself, you can disagree with her without making hurtful comments which seems the norm with some posters these days.
Yes there is institutional racism in the Police, there is racism in others sectors too. I know this as when I am out with my black partner I notice we are followed round some stores, and it can be annoying. I feel like telling the security to S.. off, but my partner who is very dignified tells me to ignore it.
I also think the Mother of the two women murdered was very dignified and I hope the killer is found and bought to Justice

Lemongrove and Anniebach you are both spot on.

1 rotten apple commits an act that 9 ignore = 10 rotten apples

Iam trying to judge whether their behaviour was racist or not in taking the photograph is a bit like the ‘angels on the head of a pin question’. They are Met officers who are fully aware of prevailing race issues and so yes,they are racist and they thought they could get away with it and that says to me, they thought no one would care because where they are working locally must be steeped in it. Well tgs k god one person at least turned them in. I still want to know what’s happening to the other officers in the group who did not report them.

tickingbird do you think if two white women living say in Highgate had been reported last seen in a park late at night the police wouldn't have sent a community officer to at least look at the area?
I do think that if any police officers had received the selfies and not reported the officers sending them they should also be subjected to discipline. It's not enough to just target those two and leave the culture behind.

I’d like to add that from watching various documentaries regarding police investigations over the years, there is always a reason they either withhold or put out information. They aren’t putting much into the public domain at present and it won’t be because of lack of interest.

These poor women were respectable professionals. I don’t think their colour has anything to do with the actions of the police. They will be under pressure to find the killer and it’s imperative they don’t make mistakes.

MRGUDER references an American town that disbanded its existing police force and began a community rather than military type approach to policing. The difference between our approach to policing and the more military/armed approach in the US makes the suggestion we follow suit rather unhelpful.
The tradition in the UK is policing by consent. That was the initial response in our major cities, when the BLM demonstrations started. Police recognised that any attempt to stop those demonstrations by using, for example, the guidance and legislation linked to the Covid crisis would not work and worse, would inflame tensions
There will be people with racist views working in our police forces. Whether the two officers who took and shared these obscene photographs did so with racist intent will be exposed by an investigation. Some people, including some police officers, are fairly disgusting human beings. I suspect racism will be a contributory factor to this behaviour but underlying that must be contempt for the public they are employed to serve.

Ass annie is a bereaved mother, her comments are frankly even more.reprehensible. Your own grief does not give you a get out of jail card to trample over the grief of others.

Trisher - thank you for that link. I wasn’t aware of that. I, too, saw their mother being interviewed yesterday. Very dignified, obviously her faith is a tremendous help.

It may well be a random lunatic - care in the community person responsible for this and if so it becomes very difficult for the police to find them.

Quote from a serving police officer:
"Yet another example of people letting the side down."
As disgusted as the rest of us.

I did add to that Callistemon that perhaps the police should have realised, if these women were habitually staying out till the early hours/staying out all night and ignoring phone calls, the family would not have been so distressed and worried. I do understand that the police are under pressure and receive lots of missing persons reports but maybe a bit more training in identifying unusual elements in crime and missing reports wouldn't go amiss.

Frankly, I think Anniebach deserved those comments. She has throughout this thread said some quite odd things.

Saying "it seems taking pictures on phones of anything involving tragedies is commonplace now" comes across as almost like excusing repulsive and callous behaviour. The vast majority of people would not take a selfie with the dead bodies of two women as their backdrop. The fact that two police officers did it is truly appalling and can't be explained away.

Next a suggestion that the horrible murder of two innocent people and the subsequent almost inhuman behaviour of two police officers should not cause outrage but should be discussed "calmly". This, from someone who quite frequently emotes about people and events that particularly upset her.

Given the circumstances surrounding these women's "disappearance" and their subsequent defilement at the hands of two police officers, I see the remark "some will see racism everywhere and in everyone" as being loftily dismissive of a genuine concern about police attitudes.

We have community policing here too

GagaJo - wasn't the enquiry following the murder of Stephen Lawrence supposed to sort that out and others since I guess. So what is going on? Surely the training is still there from that enquiry and improved upon since, I guess. So why isn' it working? I saw a short excerpt on the news, I think, about an American town that actually disbanded their police-force and made it more into a social force. Officers going round visiting families, holding fetes, and so on. The crime wave had dropped remarkably. Could they be talking about policemen walking the neighbourhood perhaps?

There is no reason Jennifer and no defence.
They are sick voyeurs

I agree with your post Eloethan. The police do receive thousands if reports of missing people and perhaps this did not ring any urgent alarm bells as they were two adults and were together. As for those police officers, how did they get through the recruitment process and become serving officers? There are bad apples I know but these two are rotten to the core. I presume one of their 'friends' had the decency to report them.

I have just read through this thread trying to find the alleged ‘racist’ posts complained about but I fail to see any.

As for the claim that a search wasn’t mounted promptly simply because they were black women is beyond ridiculous and insulting to the police, many of whom are themselves black these days.

I’m wondering if the officers concerned had offered any explanation for the taking of the photos. Obviously on the face of it , it was very wrong , but they must have had to answer the question.

A mother has lost two daughters, she has spoken very eloquently, I admire her fortitude, her loss is surely unimaginable
The police officers selfies were appalling
Bibaa and Nicole ?

How dare you post that to anniebach, granmamat!

I think she knows more about grief than you will ever come across in your lifetime whoever you are. Obviously you are a new poster with no clue whatsoever.

I won't report your nasty post but leave it for all to see.

And suzie you should know better.

I wondered the same, lemongrove, as one was a senior social worker? A client, perhaps?

annie annie * annie* have you no compassion for a doubly bereaved mother or are you going to continue with your snide callous posts?

No one said this thread needs deleting - I took issue with some callous unkind unthinking ill-informed posts. The actual topic of the thread is well worth discussing

The two women had been celebrating with a few friends in the park. The friends left and the women stayed on. My understanding is that other members of the family grew concerned at their non-appearance and the lack of response to phone messages. They obviously thought it was totally out of character, which is presumably why they contacted the police. Whether the police should have made investigations earlier is debatable. A police website re missing persons says:

"There could be any number of reasons behind a disappearance which is why you should contact the police straight away if you are at all concerned about the safety and wellbeing of the person who has disappeared.

To do this, you can contact your local police station in person or by phone. You can report to your own local police station even if the missing person lives in another part of the UK. You can make a report to the police immediately – you do NOT have to wait until 24 hours after a disappearance. In an emergency you can contact 999."

|I imagine police need to use their judgment in deciding whether a search should immediately commence. I suppose, as the women were adults, with no reported vulnerabilities, and they were together, it might be thought natural for the police to wait a while before instigating a search.

Perhaps, though, they should have listened more carefully to the family members' concerns. They were better equipped to know this behaviour was completely out of character. If the women had a history of being irresponsible and inconsiderate - unexpectedly staying out all night and not responding to phone calls - then presumably the family wouldn't have reacted in the way they did. My understanding is many phone calls were made and, I would imagine increasingly desperate voicemails were left. Perhaps alarm bells should have rung at the outset but, to be fair, I expect the police are receiving these sorts of reports several times a day.

The behaviour of the police officers in taking "selfies" is absolutely repugnant. I don't care how normalised the selfie obsession has become, these were police officers who we expect to behave in a professional and respectful way. It is truly disgusting.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

They are SueDonim

Why does this thread need deleting? I’d say most posts are expressing concern about this awful crime.

It’s reported the police believe the murders were carried out
by a stranger , but there not been a warning to the general
public in the area, most strange