Officers disciplined for racism or sexism from April 2019 to March 2021

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.023437

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. How many officers received any kind of disciplinary sanction in the
(i) 2019/20 and (ii) 2020/21 year as a result of a complaint of
(a) racism, or (b) sexism/misogyny?
2. Please state what disciplinary action was imposed for each of the cases referenced in Question 1.
3. In relation to all the incidents in Q.1 where specific racist or sexist/misogynistic words or phrases were used please
(i) state what these words or phrases were and (ii) the specific disciplinary sanction imposed on the officer.
4. How many complaints of racism were made against your force by members of the public in
(i) 2019/20 and (ii) 2020/21?
NOTE: I am purposefully not asking for the name, age or rank of the officers concerned to avoid any of the above information falling within the scope of a S.40 exemption.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose some of the requested information. Some data has been withheld as it is exempt from disclosure and therefore this response serves as a Refusal Notice under Section 17 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act) by virtue of the following exemptions:

Section 40(2) and (3A)(a) Personal information

Reason for decision

In regards to question 3(i) - In relation to all the incidents in Q.1 where specific racist or sexist/misogynistic words or phrases were used please
(i) state what these words or phrases were - I have provided a summary only and any further breakdown of what these words or phrases were is exempt by virtue of Section 40(2) and (3A)(a) Personal information.

Section 40 - Personal Information - Under Section 40(2) and (3) of the Act, Public Authorities are able to withhold information where its release would identify any living individual and breach the principles of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

The exemption has been applied as disclosure in full could identify living individuals linked to investigations. This constitutes personal data which would, if released, be in breach of the rights provided by the DPA.

The Act is designed to place information into the public domain. Therefore, once access to information is granted to one person under the Act, it is then considered to be public information and must be communicated to any individual upon request. In accordance with this principle, the MPS adopts an applicant and motive blind approach when responding to requests for information and routinely publishes information disclosed under the Act on the MPS Internet. Therefore any information disclosed under FOIA is not just a disclosure to the requestor but to the world.

CONTEXT

We take all incidents of police-perpetrated abuse extremely seriously and these are regularly scrutinised at a senior level. Any allegation, disclosure or conviction of abuse perpetrated by an officer or member of staff is robustly investigated.
Tackling offences relating to gender and race is a priority for the Met, and that includes when our own officers or staff are accused of them. The Met will not hesitate to bring forward prosecutions and disciplinary procedures where there is evidence to do so.

The Met is driven by the values of professionalism, integrity, courage and compassion. We only want the best and will always act when our employees fall below the high standards we and the public expect.

Disclosure

Please see the attached spreadsheet for the information requested, including a summary for question 3(i).