Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has described it as “nonsensical” that he does not have the power to sack staff, as cases of officers previously accused of violence against women are re-examined. His comments come after a BBC London poll revealed deep distrust in the Met following a damning report by Baroness Casey, which uncovered widespread racism, homophobia and misogyny in the force.
Sir Mark criticised the Met’s disciplinary process and called for an overhaul during a phone-in on BBC Radio London, pointing out that independent legal tribunals can decide the Met has to retain officers even though the force wants to sack them. In a letter to the Mayor of London and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, he revealed that over the last three months, 90 additional officers and staff from areas such as tackling serious crime and terrorism had been diverted to the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS).
The Met began rechecking staff accused of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the 10 years to April 2022 following the conviction of David Carrick, a Met officer who carried out a series of rapes during his career. Of 1,131 individuals reinvestigated, 246 will face no formal action because correct action was taken at the time, 689 will undergo a new assessment to pursue new or missed lines of inquiry, and 196 face formal risk management measures and potentially a review to determine if they should remain in the force. All of these cases will be reassessed by an independent panel of experts.
Sir Mark also noted that vetting rules in recruiting staff have been tightened, and in the next six months about 100 officers will have their status reviewed and “may well end up leaving the organisation”. He admitted the number of neighbourhood police officers had fallen by 1,600, and said the Met needs to be more “proactive” on investigating rape after reports almost quadrupled in a decade.
Other measures designed to clean up the Met include checking the records of all of the Met’s 50,000 employees against the Police National Database. The 10,000 checked so far reveal 38 potential cases of misconduct and 55 cases of off-duty association with a criminal. Sir Mark has said he was considering banning anyone with convictions, other than the most minor, from the force, and has the backing of the prime minister and home secretary over greater powers to sack officers.
The BBC London poll found public confidence in the Met Police has been shattered after high profile cases like the murder of Sarah Everard. Out of more than 1,000 people surveyed, almost half of female respondents said they “totally distrusted” the Met following numerous controversies involving some of its officers. Sir Mark’s letter to the mayor of London and home secretary also reveals 161 Met officers have criminal convictions, 76 for serious traffic offences such as drink-driving, 49 for dishonesty or violence, eight committed the offences as police officers and are still with the force, and three have convictions for sexual offences.
Chairman of London’s Police and Crime Committee Susan Hall said Sir Mark’s findings showed that “things are going to get much worse before they get better”. London Mayor Sadiq Khan commented that “one of the problems with the police is it’s easy to join but it’s difficult to get rid of bad police officers, and that’s why it’s incredibly important if we’re going to change the culture…we’ve got to do this hard work”.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has expressed his frustration at not having the power to sack staff, as cases of officers previously accused of violence against women are re-examined. He made his comments during a phone-in on BBC Radio London, where he criticised the Met’s disciplinary process and called for an overhaul.
Sir Mark revealed that over the last three months, 90 additional officers and staff from areas such as tackling serious crime and terrorism had been diverted to the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS). The Met began rechecking staff accused of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the 10 years to April 2022 following the conviction of David Carrick, a Met officer who carried out a series of rapes during his career.
Vetting rules in recruiting staff have been tightened, and in the next six months about 100 officers will have their status reviewed and “may well end up leaving the organisation”. Sir Mark also noted that the number of neighbourhood police officers had fallen by 1,600, and said the Met needs to be more “proactive” on investigating rape after reports almost quadrupled in a decade.
A BBC London poll found public confidence in the Met Police has been shattered after high profile cases like the murder of Sarah Everard. Out of more than 1,000 people surveyed, almost half of female respondents said they “totally distrusted” the Met following numerous controversies involving some of its officers. Sir Mark’s letter to the mayor of London and home secretary also revealed 161 Met officers have criminal convictions.
Chairman of London’s Police and Crime Committee Susan Hall said Sir Mark’s findings showed that “things are going to get much worse before they get better”. London Mayor Sadiq Khan commented that “one of the problems with the police is it’s easy to join but it’s difficult to get rid of bad police officers, and that’s why it’s incredibly important if we’re going to change the culture…we’ve got to do this hard work”.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has highlighted his lack of power to sack staff as cases of officers previously accused of violence against women are re-examined. He made his comments during a phone-in on BBC Radio London, where he criticised the Met’s disciplinary process and called for an overhaul.
Sir Mark revealed that 90 additional officers and staff from areas such as tackling serious crime and terrorism had been diverted to the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) over the last three months. The Met began rechecking staff accused of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the 10 years to April 2022 following the conviction of David Carrick, a Met officer who carried out a series of rapes during his career.
Vetting rules in recruiting staff have been tightened, with 100 officers set to have their status reviewed in the next six months. Sir Mark also noted that neighbourhood police officer numbers had fallen by 1,600, and said the Met needs to be more “proactive” on investigating rape after reports almost quadrupled in a decade.
A BBC London poll found public confidence in the Met Police has been shattered after high profile cases like the murder of Sarah Everard. Out of more than 1,000 people surveyed, almost half of female respondents said they “totally distrusted” the Met following numerous controversies involving some of its officers. Sir Mark’s letter to the mayor of London and home secretary also revealed 161 Met officers have criminal convictions.
Chairman of London’s Police and Crime Committee Susan Hall said Sir Mark’s findings showed that “things are going to get much worse before they get better”. London Mayor Sadiq Khan commented that “one of the problems with the police is it’s easy to join but it’s difficult to get rid of bad police officers, and that’s why it’s incredibly important if we’re going to change the culture…we’ve got to do this hard work”. In response, Sir Mark has said he has the backing of the prime minister and home secretary over greater powers to sack officers, and hopes a review of the rules can be concluded swiftly.