Read the Misogynistic, Racist and Homophobic WhatsApps Sent by London Cops

Metropolitan Police officers joked about raping and beating women and made racist and homophobic comments, a damning report from an independent police watchdog has found.

The Operation Hotton Learning report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) details “evidence of discrimination, misogyny, harassment and bullying,” involving officers mainly based at Charing Cross Police Station between 2016 and 2018. Most conversations took place over Whatsapp.

In one example of the messages shared between 19 officers, a male officer boasts about physically assaulting his partner, saying it “makes them love you more.” In another, a male police officer says he wishes he could “rape” and “hate fuck” a female police officer.

Police officers also sent each other racist and homophobic remarks. “My dad kidnapped some African children and used them to make dog food,” one wrote.

According to the IOPC, many police officers defended the comments as “banter.”

IOPC regional director Sal Naseem said: “The behaviour we uncovered was disgraceful and fell well below the standards expected of the officers involved. While these officers predominantly worked in teams in Westminster, which have since been disbanded, we know from other recent cases that these issues are not isolated or historic.”  

The report comes days after a Met police officer was charged with rape.