Serving officers of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have been taken away from tackling serious crime and terrorism and instead told to investigate wrongdoing in the force. This comes after the force was branded as institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic in a damning report.
In an open letter to the Mayor of London and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, MPS Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said officers had been diverted to the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS). He said that not only had the DPS been increased by 150 people, but that the scale and urgency of this work had meant diverting officers from other missions such as serious and organised crime and counter-terrorism. On average, 90 additional officers and staff from these areas have been supporting DPS over the last three months, many of whom volunteered.
The letter updated the Met’s efforts to weed out rogue officers. Vetting rules 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”. This is the first step in “the biggest drive on professional standards in the Metropolitan Police in 50 years”, according to Sir Mark.
The letter follows the murder of Sarah Everard by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens and the jailing of serial rapist and disgraced officer David Carrick. Last month, a major review by Baroness Louise Casey branded the Met institutionally sexist, racist and homophobic, highlighting a “boys’ club” culture. In January, after Carrick’s guilty plea, the Met announced plans to recheck more than 1,000 investigations into officers and other staff accused of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the 10 years to April 2022.
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, including possibly talking again to victims and witnesses, 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.
However, one survivor told BBC News she has little confidence the Met can change. Brooke, not her real name, complained to the force in 2021 about sexual violence and domestic abuse by a serving senior officer but says she got nowhere. In 2020, Brooke suffered rape, assaults and verbal abuse by an officer with whom she was in a relationship. When she became pregnant, he tried to stop her seeing her own family and wanted to control how she used her phone. She eventually had a termination and escaped the relationship.
Another survivor, Liz, who was abused by a serving officer as a 14-year-old in the 1990s, believes the Met is moving in the right direction. Her abuser, Anthony Smith, was jailed last August for raping and sexually assaulting three young girls. Liz hopes her example will encourage other survivors to come forward.
The letter also reveals 161 Met officers have criminal convictions. Of these, 76 are for serious traffic offences such as drink-driving, 49 are for dishonesty or violence, eight committed the offences as police officers and are still with the force, and three have convictions for sexual offences. Sir Mark said he was considering banning anyone with convictions, other than the most minor, from the force. Other measures 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.
Serving officers of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) have been diverted away from tackling serious crime and terrorism to investigate wrongdoing within the force. This follows a damning report which branded the MPS as institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
In an open letter to the Mayor of London and Home Secretary Suella Braverman, MPS Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said officers had been diverted to the force’s Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS). He said that not only had the DPS been increased by 150 people, but that 90 additional officers and staff from other missions such as serious and organised crime and counter-terrorism had been supporting DPS over the last three months – many of whom volunteered.
The letter updated the Met’s efforts to weed out rogue officers. Vetting rules 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”. This is part of “the biggest drive on professional standards in the Metropolitan Police in 50 years”.
The letter follows the murder of Sarah Everard by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens and the jailing of serial rapist and disgraced officer David Carrick. Last month, a major review by Baroness Louise Casey branded the Met institutionally sexist, racist and homophobic, highlighting a “boys’ club” culture. In January, after Carrick’s guilty plea, the Met announced plans to recheck more than 1,000 investigations into officers and other staff accused of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the 10 years to April 2022.
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; 196 face formal risk management measures; and all will be reassessed by an independent panel of experts.
However, one survivor told BBC News she has little confidence that the Met can change. Brooke, not her real name, complained to the force in 2021 about sexual violence and domestic abuse by a serving senior officer but says she got nowhere. In 2020, Brooke suffered rape, assaults and verbal abuse by an officer with whom she was in a relationship. When she became pregnant, he tried to stop her seeing her own family and wanted to control how she used her phone. She eventually had a termination and escaped the relationship.
Another survivor, Liz, who was abused by a serving officer as a 14-year-old in the 1990s, believes that the Met is moving in the right direction. Her abuser, Anthony Smith, was jailed last August for raping and sexually assaulting three young girls. Liz hopes her example will encourage other survivors to come forward.
The letter also reveals 161 Met officers have criminal convictions – 76 for serious traffic offences such as drink-driving; 49 for dishonesty or violence; eight committed offences as police officers; and three have convictions for sexual offences. Sir Mark said he was considering banning anyone with convictions (other than minor ones) from the force. Other measures include checking records of all 50,000 employees against Police National Database – 38 potential cases of misconduct and 55 cases of off-duty association with a criminal have been revealed from 10,000 checked so far.