A decorated former Metropolitan Police officer who guarded members of the Royal Family – incliuding Kate, Princess of Wales – is convinced there are still “evil men” like Wayne Couzens and David Carrick embedded in the force who are “hiding in plain sight”. Ricky Haruna, 46, a former police officer of the year, has claimed there is a “wall of silence” running tough the ranks of Britain’s biggest police force protecting the likes of Sarah Everard’s killer Couzens and serial rapist Carrick. The former officer has lifted the lid on her own experiences during her 17-year career as a police constable at Scotland Yard.
Ms Haruna said: “Sadly, and I’ve seen it all with my own eyes. There’s a wall of silence in the Met that protects these awful characters. You look at Carrick and the things he did. That wasn’t by chance.
“He was a repeat offender able to work unchecked and keep getting away with it. He was complained about and nothing happened – that just gave him even more confidence to carry out increasingly evil crimes while wearing the badge.
“It’s this culture that allows people like him and Couzens to do what they did. It starts with smaller behaviours that go unchecked and become more sinister.”
Ms Haruna had to endure battles with racism after joining the Metropolitan Police as a PC in 2002, the Mirror has reported.
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The decorated former officer was based at Kensington and Chelsea police station, and she regularly escorted Kate, Princess of Wales before she married Prince William.
The 46-year-old also protected the late Prince Philip and was awarded a host of commendations for having the highest amount of arrests and detections on her patch and for her skills investigating a complex burglary.
On one occasion, Ms Haruna caught five ATM burglars by locking them in a café, gave CPR to a woman who had collapsed in the street, and helped in an efforts to save a woman drowning in the Thames.
But back at the police station, Ms Haruna claimed she faced a “canteen culture” of toxic behaviour.
She said: “There was a bully-boy culture. If you didn’t fit in – if it was your colour, you’re female or you’re homosexual – you’re gonna be the target. If you’re on an op, there’s about 30 of you on the bus. There would always be one or two picked on.
“Female officers would be called Sheila or Doris. I remember hearing one male officer saying, ‘Maybe she can look after kids while we do the arresting’. Some would refuse to work with gay colleagues. They’d be made to partner up with one of the women instead.
“There’d be all these alpha male officers bragging about their sex lives behind their wife’s back. It was a shameful canteen culture. As a female, I felt invisible. I was disgusted by it.”
Ms Haruna raised complaints of racism between 2010 and 2012 but was then dismissed for gross misconduct a year later in 2013 after a senior officer she had accused of racist slurs alleged she had defrauded an elderly woman.
The decorated officer was never charged and won back her job in 2015 after she appealed her dismissal. Ms Haruna then sued for wrongful dismissal and racial harassment. The Met settled without admitting liability
She said officers claiming to have been bullied have emailed her asking for advice.
Ms Haruna said: “They are scared to speak out as they’ll be targeted. It sends the message that if you complain about discrimination, you’re the problem.”
The 46-year-old left her job in 2019 and now managed private security firm Abandoned Vehicle Service Ltd.
She concluded: “I’d go back in a heartbeat but not while it is riddled with filth.”
A Met spokesman said: “The claim brought by PC Haruna has been settled by mutual agreement and with no admission of liability. Allegations of misconduct in her claim were fully investigated. No misconduct by any officers or staff was identified.”
