More than half of ethnic minority Britons do not trust Metropolitan Police

More than half of ethnic minority Britons do not trust the Metropolitan Police, damning new data has revealed.

Fresh figures from YouGov found that 56 per cent of ethnic minority Britons distrust the Met, compared to just 32 per cent who do.

The results were similar to those collected for all Britons in February, with 54 per cent of the whole population distrusting the Met while 30 per cent said they had some trust in the force.

YouGov also found a similar lack of trust among ethnic minority Londoners, at 55 per cent.

Trust among this group was slightly higher, however, at 38 per cent, as they were less likely to answer “don’t know” than people across the rest of the country.

Distrust in the Met Police was especially high among Black Britons, at 57 per cent.

More than half (52 per cent) of people in this group said they distrusted UK police forces in general, while 53 per cent said the same of their local constabulary and 42 per cent of individual police officers.

Almost half (47 per cent) of respondents said police in general were doing a bad job, while just 31 per cent see the police as performing well.

When asked how they think the police are doing today compared to 30 years ago, 38 per cent think they are doing a worse job, while a quarter rate them as better.

A further 12 per cent believe they both are and were doing a bad job, while 7 per cent think the police were doing a good job 30 years ago, and still are.

Attitudes towards the Metropolitan Police are equally troubling, with at least half of ethnic minority respondents saying they think it is institutionally racist (58 per cent) and misogynistic (50 per cent).

These figures are very similar among ethnic minority Londoners, as well as among Black Britons. The wider British public likewise believe the Met to be institutionally racist by a margin of two to one (48 per cent vs 24 per cent).

Overall, a further 44 per cent think there is institutional homophobia in the Metropolitan Police.

Given these sobering revelations, there little faith in Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to effectively address these problems.

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Almost half (45 per cent) say they have little (27 per cent) to no confidence (18 per cent) in the new commissioner.

Half of Black Britons (51 per cent) don’t possess much faith in Sir Mark to resolve the Met’s issues, including 25 per cent who say they don’t have any confidence at all.

It follows the recent publication of the Baroness Casey review, which shed light on the widespread failings of the Met, with key findings highlighting rife discrimination towards minority groups.

Following the review, Sir Mark reiterated his commitment for change.

In a statement, te said: “This report needs to lead to meaningful change. If it only leads to pillory and blame of the exceptional majority of officers then only criminals will benefit.

“We need it to galvanise Londoners, the dedicated police majority and politicians to coalesce around reform and the renewal of policing by consent for the 21st century.”

Sir Mark added: “The appalling examples [in this report] of discrimination, the letting down of communities and victims, and the strain faced by the frontline, are unacceptable.

“We have let people down and I repeat the apology I gave in my first weeks to Londoners and our own people in the Met. I am sorry.

“I want us to be anti-racist, anti-misogynist and anti-homophobic. In fact, I want us to be anti-discrimination of all kinds.”