Final Report of the Morris Inquiry: The Case for Change

THE CASE FOR CHANGE
“The organisation can’t deal with difference. Most officers are white upper working class by
background. They have no experience of different groups. Their first experience of different
groups will be negative – arresting someone.”
(Speaker during a London Police Station visit.)
5.41 Some management inaction could be interpreted as indifference to the issues
rather than fear.
“I was diagnosed with Osteoarthritis of the hips, and in August that same year, I went on sick
leave. I returned to work in December, and was posted to permanent control room duties at
[redacted], which was my OCU at that time. In June 2002, I was then transferred to [redacted]
to take up the post of OCU armourer. I remained there until [redacted]. 1 was very content in
this post, as it involved light office-based work, as recommended by the CMO (Chief medical
officer) at that time, [redacted]. Whilst at a CMO appointment last year, I had occasion to raise
a matter of concern with him. I mentioned that travelling to work on public transport was
now becoming a health issue. The reason for this was that I had to stand on trains and the
underground system for my entire journey, which is 23 miles. He made a recommendation to
[redacted], that a suitable transfer to a division nearer home would cut down my travelling
time and distance, and therefore reduce the amount of daily pain and discomfort I was
suffering. To date, that recommendation has gone no further. As far as I’m aware, enquiries
were made at several boroughs, and the problem, (so I was told) was either down to my bad
sick record, or budget. That means I will still have to make the daily journey as before, still
suffering from the same disability problems … I am then informed that I was being transferred
to [redacted] based in [redacted] for 3 months, to assist them with Operation [redacted],
which began on [redacted]. 1 asked if I had an option on this matter, and you can guess what
the answer was. Management insisted that I was the only ‘sick’ officer available, even although
there were other officers placed on light duties. I was then faced with the dilemma of having
to travel even further to work, and as you can gather, this did my disabilities no favours
whatsoever. What ever happened to going to a division nearer home … I was sent further
away! As it turned out, I enjoyed the attachment, and managed to secure a further 3-month
extension. But that does not get away from the fact that management did absolutely nothing
to aid my disabilities.” (Submission from IND 50.)
“‘S’ [redacted] had a CPA poster next to his desk which was set on fire, local management
declined to do any action. Again such inaction by managers on this occasion perpetuates the
belief that they do not care. It is not an uncommon experience for Christian literature to be
defaced or removed from notice boards.” (Submission from the CPA.)
5.42 We have even received evidence of what appears to be direct discrimination.
This is predominantly in the area of complaints and discipline which we will deal
with in more detail later in this chapter. However, there is other worrying
evidence:
“‘E’ was informed not to bother applying for a post because Christians were not welcome.”
(Submission from the CPA.)
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