A former police inspector has revealed that sexual predators are still operating unchecked within the service. Rebecca Kalam served in the West Midlands Police firearms unit until she won an employment tribunal case in 2023 in which she cited multiple instances of such abusive and inappropriate behaviour. She pointed out that sexist, misogynistic, racist and abusive practices are still not being addressed, which she fears puts the public at risk.
Kalam’s latest comments come in the context of a report into Sarah Everard’s murder that found police repeatedly failed to spot warning signs about the killer, Wayne Couzens. Lady Elish Angiolini, leading the inquiry, has urged all police forces in the country to read this report and immediately take action. Yet Kalam has not been able to find out what specific action West Midlands Police has taken in response to the behaviour she experienced, nor has she been able to meet with the force’s chief constable to discuss the matter despite requesting to do so.
Kalam successfully sued the force for harassment, sex discrimination and victimisation, winning a total of £820,720. Her experiences in the firearms unit included being stripped down to her underwear by colleagues during a training exercise, a male officer pushing her down with his foot on the back of her neck while she was exercising, and a male officer flashing his genitals to her while he was exercising on a treadmill.
West Midlands Police said that it had taken the grievance and disciplinary matters raised by Kalam seriously and that it has been working to improve culture, standards and the working environment of the firearms unit over the past two years. Yet Kalam believes that the public are still at risk from predatory officers and she could not encourage young women to join the police, having won her case.
Sue Sim, a former chief constable at Northumbria Police, has called for a zero-tolerance approach to sexism within the police, which she says is a machismo and masculine-led culture. She states that unless there is zero tolerance to such behaviour, it is not possible to reassure the women whom the police are supposed to be there to support
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