Met Police report: Hundreds of officers getting away with misconducton October 16, 2022 at 11:01 pm

Hundreds of Met Police officers have been getting away with breaking the law and misconduct, a damning report has found.

Baroness Louise Casey found many claims of sexual misconduct, misogyny, racism and homophobia were badly mishandled.

One serving officer had 11 misconduct notices for allegations involving assault, sexual harassment and fraud.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the findings showed hundreds of his officers should have been sacked.

The interim report on misconduct procedures and the culture in the Met also found misogyny and racial disparity across the force’s internal disciplinary system, with a “systemic bias” against black and Asian officers.

Author Baroness Casey said: “We have heard repeatedly from colleagues that they feel and believe, and actually have given us case examples of where people are getting away both with misconduct but also criminal behaviour.”

According to the report, some 1,809 officers – or 20% of all those facing allegations – had more than one complaint raised against them, with 500 of those facing between three to five separate misconduct cases since 2013.

And yet Baroness Casey’s team said that fewer than 1% of officers facing multiple allegations had been dismissed from the force, with one continuing to serve despite facing multiple serious allegations – including corruption, traffic offences and “failure to safeguard while off duty”.

Sir Mark admitted it had been hard not to shed a tear at how people had been treated when they had complained about the conduct of fellow officers and nothing had happened.

Asked how many officers or staff should have been sacked for their behaviour, he admitted only between 30 and 50 people are sacked a year and that was not enough.

He said: “There must be hundreds of people who shouldn’t be here who should have been thrown out.”

In a written reply to Baroness Casey, the commissioner said he was “appalled by the extent of the findings you expose”.

He added: “I am sorry to those we have let down: both the public and our honest and dedicated officers.”

The report was commissioned in the aftermath of the rape, kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met PC Wayne Couzens.

Baroness Casey described the current system as “not fit for purpose” and said “this has to be a line in the sand moment”.

She added there was such a great level of systemic bias and racism that it might be called an example of institutional racism, although that was not the same as saying the Met was institutionally racist.

In a letter to Sir Mark, Baroness Casey laid out eight key issues, including the length of time taken to resolve misconduct cases, currently an average of about a year.

She wrote: “Cases are taking too long to resolve, allegations are more likely to be dismissed than acted upon, the burden on those raising concerns is too heavy, and there is racial disparity across the system, with white officers dealt with less harshly than black or Asian officers.”

Last month, the Met’s performance was found to be “failing” in several areas by the police inspectorate which said there were “serious failings” in the way it operates.

This latest report outlined examples of “how the misconduct process does not find and discipline officers with repeated, or patterns of, unacceptable behaviour”.

There was one serving officer who had received 11 misconduct notices for cases involving abuse, sexual harassment and assault, fraud, improper disclosure of information and distribution of an explicit image of himself.

By the time a decision on the first misconduct matter had been made, which was to sanction rather than dismiss for harassment and assault, he had received six more notices against him.

By Lucy Manning, Special Correspondent

A police officer kidnapping, raping and murdering Sarah Everard using his warrant card and handcuffs.

Two police officers taking photos with the dead bodies of murdered sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry then sharing them with colleagues.

Messages between a group of officers mainly based at Charing Cross Police Station that joked about rape, domestic violence and racism.

It’s not hard to see why the conclusion is that the Metropolitan Police has failed to police its own officers.

What is stark from the report is the phrase “these issues are not new”. What Baroness Casey found was “systemic” and “institutionalised”.

Basically, the leadership of the Met has for years ignored the need to get rid of the bad, corrupt, dangerous officers and that has put their families, their fellow officers and the people they serve – the public – all at risk.

And this isn’t her last word. She has much more to expose about the Met, its officers and its way of working when she delivers her final report.

Baroness Casey laid out a number of areas where improvement action should be taken, including:

There was also a racial disparity throughout the Met’s misconduct system, the report found.

“This included the concern that raising issues relating to racism, or other discrimination and wrongdoing often led to being labelled a trouble maker, which then led to unfair disciplinary action,” the report stated.

“We also heard that the misconduct system is not sufficiently robust with white officers who breach professional standards, but there is a lower threshold for black, Asian and mixed ethnicity officers and staff.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the public “rightly expects the highest standards of behaviour from police officers and the vast majority meet this expectation”, but recently incidents “have damaged trust”.

She added: “Culture and standards in the police must improve. And where an officer has fallen seriously short of these expectations, demonstrable, public action must be taken.”

Chief Constable Andy Marsh, from professional standards body the College of Policing, added: “Baroness Casey’s review puts a shameful light on behaviour which has eroded the foundation of our model to police by consent.

“What has been found has no place in society, let alone in a police service where we should be dedicated to helping the vulnerable.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the situation at the Met was worse than he had feared.

“It’s clear the Met’s misconduct system is simply not fit for purpose,” he said.

“I now expect nothing less than every single recommendation of this review to be implemented in full, and quickly.

“All misconduct allegations must be acted upon, cases must be resolved much faster, and the disproportionality in the way allegations are dealt with must be eliminated.”

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