30 Patterns of Harm

Title: 30 Patterns of Harm: A Structural Review of Systemic Racism within the London Metropolitan Police Service by Dr Shereen Daniels.
Published: July 2025, commissioned by the Met as part of its London Race Action Plan, a response to longstanding concerns about racism in the force. (Metropolitan Police)

The report does not just list incidents of racism—it argues that racism is embedded in the structures, systems and culture of the Met. It maps how harm is organised and sustained, not just expressed occasionally. (Metropolitan Police)

The report identifies 30 “patterns of harm” — ways that systems, processes and logics within the Met produce racial harm. These include:

Recruitment and vetting that assumes whiteness as neutral and normal.
Complaints and misconduct processes that filter or dismiss harm rather than address injustice.
Data counting and metrics that simulate progress without challenging bias.
Stop and search, use of force, strip search, missing-persons decisions that disproportionately target Black people and interpret distress as threat.
“Adultification” — Black children not treated as children in policing decisions.
Power, culture plans, strategic communications framed to maintain image, not accountability. (Metropolitan Police)

The review centres Black Londoners and examines the institution itself, not just individual behaviour. It frames racism as structural — not something that will disappear through training or isolated actions. (Mynewsdesk)

Independent commentators say the report describes racism as “baked into the Met’s systems and culture.” (LBC)
Some reporting notes that earlier internal reviews had been “buried” or resisted within the force, and that the Met continues to reject the term “institutional racism,” even while acknowledging problems. (Canary)