Met police investigating 1,600 officers and workers over alleged abuse in opposition to girls

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About 1,600 Metropolitan Law enforcement officials and workers are being investigated for alleged violence in opposition to girls or sexual abuse, figures that expose the historic failure of London’s police drive to root out predators inside its ranks.

The Met launched an unlimited vetting and overview technique of its almost 45,000 officers and workers after the 2021 rape and homicide of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, then a serving officer.

The sweeping inside probe is an try to weed out these responsible of misconduct or crimes and restore belief after a string of scandals about rogue cops attacking members of the general public.

The Met has referred to as the trouble underneath Sir Mark Rowley, who took over command of the UK’s largest police drive a yr in the past, its “strongest doubling down on requirements” in 50 years.

Stuart Cundy, the deputy assistant commissioner main the requirements overview, mentioned on Monday that 100 officers had been dismissed for gross misconduct previously 12 months.

Greater than 1,000 officers, he added, have been suspended or had their roles restricted whereas investigations into quite a lot of allegations are undertaken.

The 1,600 instances of alleged home or sexual abuse underneath overview associated to allegations from the final 10 years that concerned a serving officer or member of workers “the place the allegation didn’t lead to a dismissal on the time”.

“Our job is to know the chance they pose to the general public and the chance they pose to their colleagues,” Cundy mentioned at New Scotland Yard, the Met’s headquarters.  

Reforms to the Met had been initiated within the wake of the homicide dedicated by Couzens, an officer then serving within the parliamentary and diplomatic safety (PADP) unit. This yr, one other officer, David Carrick, was convicted for the rape of a number of girls whereas he was serving in the identical unit.

Each instances shocked the UK, placing the highlight on a tradition of misogyny and violence in elements of the police.

One other serving Met officer was charged earlier this yr with rape, strangulation and different crimes, a few of which he dedicated whereas on responsibility.

Cundy mentioned that by “turning over each stone” the Met was uncovering a rising variety of offenders.

“The tougher we work to establish these individuals who shouldn’t be in policing, the tougher instances, the tougher tales will change into public,” Cundy mentioned. He added that police misconduct and incompetence hearings had been “too sluggish” and dragging the entire course of out.  

Backlogs within the courts additionally imply that felony instances, together with for the officer charged this yr with rape, had been being pushed again to 2025.  

The Met hopes to extend the variety of instances handled at misconduct and incompetence hearings to 60 a month. Rowley has additionally pressed the federal government to switch powers of dismissal to police commissioners from unbiased attorneys who at present chair misconduct proceedings.

In the meantime, the senior command of the PADP unit has been modified, a 3rd of officers within the unit have been rotated out, and an additional third will likely be by 2025, based on Laurence Taylor, the deputy assistant commissioner in command of safety.

The Met additionally drew consideration on Monday to its efforts to diversify the drive by bringing the proportion of girls up from 18 to twenty per cent, and the variety of officers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds from 11 to twenty per cent.

In a damning report launched after she led an unbiased inquiry, Baroness Louise Casey mentioned the Met was responsible of “institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia” and must be damaged up if it couldn’t impact a whole overhaul.