The Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has hinted that the capital’s police officers are to be banned from activities such as wearing political badges on their uniforms, flying colourful flags from police stations and ‘taking the knee’ at protests.
‘Once you start having environmental and other subjects there are lots of people in the organisation who will personally support those causes and that is OK, but the Metropolitan Police explicitly supporting them is quite tricky. I’m fairly narrow-minded on this. There are very few causes policing should be attached to,’ he said.
Some will dismiss this announcement as mere frippery, not worthy of the time of someone in as important a role as the commissioner. They are wrong.
Sir Mark is right to ensure officers are focused on fighting crime rather than playing politics
The importance of impartiality in policing cannot be overstated. Police officers are given huge powers over their fellow citizens. In the course of their duties and without a court order, they have the power to take children away from their families, to enter our homes without permission and to deprive us of our liberty for many hours and days.
The perception alone that an officer’s decision-making might be influenced by a partisan political view has the potential to be hugely damaging to the public’s confidence that policing is being done fairly. It
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in