In My View: Harriet Harman, MP for Camberwell & Peckham

In the wake of the resignation of Cressida Dick, London now has a new Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

Sir Mark Rowley, who has taken up the UK’s top policing job, has an impressive track record and said he is determined to bring about change

Everyone in London is entitled to a police service in which they can trust and who will help keep them safe, so I will give him every support.

Certainly he has a big task.

I do not think it’s a matter of restoring trust in the police. There has not been, since I have been MP over the last 40 years, a golden age of trust in the police to which we need to return.

What is happening now is long overdue recognition of what has long been the case, that there is a lack of trust in the police particularly among the black community.

In the past, complaints about racism in the police were brushed aside. Then they were characterised as “anti-police” when they were nothing of the sort. At last now the intention is to tackle it.

From the Scarman Report on the Brixton Riots in 1981, to the Macpherson Report on the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 there have been numerous moments when change has been promised.

Yet it has never materialised and so cynicism has grown.

This time there really must be change not just good intentions.

Firstly, there needs to be a thorough-going vetting of all existing Met officers. Those who have committed disciplinary offences with any aspect of racism should be dismissed.

The Met say that restrictive rules laid down by Parliament prevent them dismissing officers who are not fit to be in the police.

Along with other London Labour MPs I have assured Sir Mark Rowley that if he drafts new rules which enable him to effectively manage the force to keep the necessary high standards, we will introduce them into Parliament.

Over the years Met Police leaders have complained about restrictive management rules but have never been specific about what changes they need.

As soon as they do that we will make the necessary changes in Parliament. It is not good enough for them to bemoan their hands being tied.

They need to specify the take action which we, the Mayor and the Home Secretary are more than willing to take.

Sir Mark Rowley has said there are hundreds of officers who can’t do their job because their previous actions have shown them to be unfit to be in contact with the public yet they remain in the police.

Until such time as the Met have rid the force of racists they won’t command the confidence of the black community.

However many community meetings the police hold, it won’t work if black people’s everyday experience of the police is discriminatory

Secondly, the black community need to be able to see black officers in our local force.

One third of Camberwell and Peckham people are black (compared to 4 per cent nationally).

They are entitled to a diverse force so the Met should have a specific policy of deploying black officers into Camberwell and Peckham.

Finally the Met need to establish an independent process to benchmark and publish annually the views of the black community to measure whether the actions they have taken are working to engender trust in the Met in the black community.

Black people are entitled to be protected, not subjected to discrimination.

They are entitled to a police service they can trust.

And it’s Sir Mark Rowley’s job to deliver that.