Scotland Yard’s most senior Asian official has revealed the misogynistic and racist abuse she witnessed in the force, claiming male officers would put their hands up the skirts of their female counterparts to check if they were wearing stockings.
East Londoner Nusrit Mehtab was once a force model and even starred in an ITV show called ‘Mehtab of the Met’ which followed her work to improve community relations in London’s East End.
She rose through the ranks to become the most senior Asian officer in the Metropolitan Police, working on everything from covert operations to counterterrorism. She resigned from the police force in January 2020, complaining of a “toxic workplace” with sexism and institutional racism.
Ahead of the release of her book, Off the Beat, Nusrit recalled the horrors of working in the force, including a 1998 prank in which male officers welcomed her to the team as a new recruit by placing a sex toy in her inbox. .
“You hear laughter,” Nusrit recalled in a conversation with The times. She added: “Maximum shock, maximum humiliation, a power play – we are all men and we are going to do this to a 5ft 4in Asian woman who we know is Muslim… Let’s teach her a lesson.”
Speaking to The Times, former senior Asian police officer Nusrit Mehtab (pictured) recalled racist and misogynistic events during her time on the force.
That cruel prank at the Whitechapel police station set the precedent for the career of Nusrit, who stated that sexist and racist discrimination are routine occurrences in the police.
In a series of explosive racial claims, Nusrit said staff asked her if she only ate curry and when a senior officer asked her name in English, she said he would call her ‘Nidgit’.
He has described how senior white female officers “ganged up like mean girls”, comparing their behavior to that of black, Asian and minority ethnic officers in the hit film starring Lindsay Lohan.
Nusrit told the Times that the system “did not protect her.”
She said, “I think it attracts predators, it attracts monsters.” Because you have a group of people who will have access to vulnerable people, vulnerable women. And they give them an authorization card, they give them a uniform, they have power and authority over the people. That lends itself to abuse.
Miss Mehtab, of Pakistani origin, believes she was forced to patrol alone because of her ethnicity, while her white male colleagues refused to talk to her or sit next to her, which she likened to being ignored by children. .
A practicing Muslim, she refused to wear a uniformed skirt for religious reasons and was forced to wear pants made for a male officer. Things came to a head in February 2019 when she reported a swastika in an area of the Edmonton police station that she could only access by staff.
According to documents lodged at an employment tribunal in 2020, Scotland Yard bosses told him to “keep quiet” about the discovery and blamed the builders.
The former police officer, from east London, recalled her trauma before the publication of her memoir, Off the Beat (out in 2023).
Nusrit claimed Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick (pictured) failed to address racism in the force.
However, Nusrit boasted a successful career during her time in the police force and became the highest-ranking Asian woman in the Metropolitan Police, despite claiming that her superiors manipulated promotion decisions to benefit the “boys from gold”.
The promotion process led her to launch an employment tribunal against the Met in 2017, claiming that racism and misogyny have a powerful influence on the decision process.
She believes the hiring process was no different. When one candidate requested a different interview time so she could pick up her children for school, Nusrit claimed she was instantly rejected.
Nusrit was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2019 and took time off work. When she returned, she claimed it was a “lonely place” where she was greeted with silence and frequent stares from other members of staff involved in her employment tribunal, which led her to leave work.
A year later he sued the police in a £500,000 racism claim and sought compensation for loss of earnings, pensions and hurt feelings.
According to legal documents filed by Miss Mehtab in 2020, when she went to work in Tower Hamlets in east London in 1988, “the traditional induction greeting for newly arrived female officers… was to have their chest and bottom stamped.” with the seal of the office”. ‘.
The former office now teaches criminology and criminal justice at the University of East London in a bid to tackle discrimination in the force.
The legal documents also claimed that their promotions were delayed due to sexism and racism. When she was appointed inspector, she said she heard a colleague say: “You’ll never believe it.” The Doris has passed. How the hell did that happen? How did you let it happen?
Miss Mehtab accused Commissioner Cressida Dick of failing to address the issue, saying she “protects the racist work environment by supporting racist officers.”
The Met denied the claims made by Nusrit and, in 2022, agreed to resolve the case in court.
Nusrit’s experience aligns with the conclusions of the 2023 Casey review, in which the damning 363-page dossier reveals the force is “failing women and children” and is “institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic” .
Now, refusing to allow her experience to be forgotten, Nusrit is publishing a memoir of her 30-year career on the force, Off the Beat.
He simultaneously teaches criminology and criminal justice at the University of East London to students wanting a career in the force. The former officer insists that her teaching highlights the importance of positive change and questioning the status quo.