Only root-and-branch reform of the Met will suffice | Letter

The police force needs new leadership, a new name and a remit to engage with the communities it claims to serve, writes David Coates

The latest report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct raises the question as to whether the Metropolitan police can ever be trusted to reform itself (Met officers joked about raping women, police watchdog reveals, 1 February). The list of crimes proven against officers in recent years is as shocking as it is long, ranging from an apparent endemic culture of racism, misogyny, homophobia and bullying, to corruption, rape and murder.

It is time to strip back the Met from its bloated and pernicious condition, and reform it with new leadership, a new name and a remit to engage with the diverse communities that it claims to serve, not just the white middle classes and the establishment. It is a failing organisation with an annual budget approaching 4bn, much of which could be better spent in regenerating the deprived and marginalised communities that the Met has played a part in stigmatising.