LONDON (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The successor of Cressida Dick has been urged to address the “canteen culture” of the force by a black ex-cop whose colleagues painted his face white to make him “fit in.”
When he worked for the Met Police, racial insults were dismissed as “banter,” and he was “complicit” in some of the abuse he received, according to Gamal Turawa, the first openly gay black officer of the force.
The former police constable further claimed that his allegation of inappropriate behaviour by a senior officer was dismissed, leaving him suicidal.
Mr Turawa retired in 2018 after having worked for more than 25 years. He believes “institutional discrimination” exists in the force. He said this after the resignation of Dame Cressida.
According to Mr Turawa, who spoke to Sky News, “I believe one of [Cressida Dick’s] major blunders was claiming that the police is no longer institutionally racist.
“The culture at the Met is changing in the canteens, not at the top.
“This is where the culture is centred. It is not based in Scotland Yard.”
Mr Turawa became a part of the Met Police in the early 1990s after four of his prior applications were rejected. His tale is chronicled in the BAFTA-nominated documentary The Black Cop.
After expressing his dissatisfaction with the statements, he claims a teacher informed him, “You know what your problem is son, you’ve got a chip on your shoulder.”
Mr Turawa claims that a group of fellow recruits barged into his room a few weeks into his training and coated his face with shoe whitener before telling him, “Now you fit in.”
He claimed that he let that happen and laughed with them, even posed for a picture, since “now they like me.”
They regarded it as harmless joking. He thought it was a joke at the time, according to the former cop.
As he matured and reflected about it, he realised it for what it was.
He went on to say, “The reason he didn’t report this was because he was complicit in it as well.
Mr Turawa worked as a diversity and inclusion trainer and as a PC with the Met Police.
He was frequently active in public relations initiatives for the force, including hosting then-Prime Minister Tony Blair at the opening of a new careers office at Scotland Yard in 2000.
However, he had a nervous breakdown in the early years of 2000 after allegedly being subjected to inappropriate behaviour by a senior officer.
Mr Turawa claimed that after filing a complaint, the officer assigned to the matter questioned him if he really thought that was going to go anywhere.
He claimed that the alleged encounter, as well as his battle to keep his sexuality hidden at the time, led to him to writing a suicide note.
Image via Sky News
