Ex-Officer says Women Officers scared to report Male Colleagues

According to former Met Chief Superintendent Parm Sandhu, female police officers are scared to report their male colleagues.

And police watchdog inspector Zoe Billingham admitted that she would be hesitant to approach a lone male officer at night.

The revelations came after Wayne Couzens was jailed for kidnapping, raping and killing Sarah Everard while an officer.

He had abducted the 33-year-old under the guise of an arrest as she walked home from a friend’s home in south London on March 3, 2021.

Scotland Yard subsequently faced questions over how Couzens was able to remain in the force without being detected as a potential threat to women.

Former senior officer Parm Sandhu has now claimed that female officers were too scared to report male colleagues for misconduct because they fear they will not receive backup when in danger.

She told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One:

“The police service is very sexist and misogynistic. A lot of women will not report their colleagues.

“What happens is that male police officers will then close ranks and the fear that most women police officers have got is that when you are calling for help, you press that emergency button or your radio, they’re not going to turn up and you’re going to get kicked in in the street.

“So you have got to be very careful which battles you can fight and which ones you can actually win.”

She added that women officers who are married to male police officers “won’t report domestic violence either because of the same sort of issues”.

Ms Sandhu went on to say that she had been “vilified” after she reported an incident involving a male colleague.

Ms Sandhu also called for change at the top, saying that Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick “cannot move with the times”.

The former officer joined the Met in 1989 and went on to become a chief superintendent, one of the highest-ranking female Asian officers in its 189-year history.

From 1989 to 1994, Ms Sandhu worked across East London Boroughs involved in mainly hate and domestic violence investigations.

She was given responsibility for Community and Youth involving Police Volunteer Cadets and young people vulnerable from being involved in crime.

Ms Sandhu led an anti-corruption team set up to look at record-keeping in the Met following Stephen Lawrence’s murder in Eltham, South East London, in 1993.

She also worked on policing the 2012 London Olympics and became borough commander for Richmond in West London.

Ms Sandhu retired from the Met Police in 2019.

She previously filed a legal complaint against the Met Police, accusing them of discriminating against her in terms of gender and race.

Ms Sandhu alleged that she has been denied promotion and work opportunities several times during her 30 year-long career with the force.