More than 1,000 Metropolitan Police officers and staff previously accused of domestic violence and sexual offences are having the allegations reviewed in the wake of the David Carrick case.
The 48-year-old, once a highly trusted armed officer in the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, has been revealed as one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said weak policies and decisions meant Carrick was able to stay in the force for 20 years, despite repeated complaints being made against him.
Carrick was sacked for gross misconduct from the force at a disciplinary hearing held in his absence on Tuesday.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe said: “This is a sickening and horrific case with far reaching consequences for policing.”
Sir Mark told BBC Breakfast: “We’ve let London down – he’s been a police officer for 20 years.
“Through a combination of weak policies and weak decisions, over those 20 years we missed opportunities when he joined and subsequently, as behaviour came to the fore that we should have removed him from policing.
“Whether it would have affected him being a sex offender I don’t know, but he shouldn’t have been doing it as a police officer.”
In the cases under review, which affect 800 officers, allegations were made but no further action taken.
Sir Mark said some will have involved a neighbour hearing raised voices, while others will have involved “very concerning” behaviour.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Sir Mark was asked if he could guarantee that a woman visiting a police station to report a sexual offence would not meet a police officer whose past behaviour was now under review, or who was tolerating similar behaviour in their department.
“I can’t, I’m not going to make a promise that I can’t stick to,” he said.
“I’m going to put in place ruthless systems to squeeze out those who shouldn’t be with us.”
On Monday, Carrick appeared at Southwark Crown Court to plead guilty to a number of offences. He has now admitted 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape against 12 women over an 18-year period.
Details of his abuse were revealed. He kept some victims locked in a tiny cupboard for hours, beating and urinating on them.
One ex-girlfriend told The Sun Carrick boasted he was untouchable because of his job and would use his police-issue handcuffs and weapons at home during sex.
His mother Jean told The Guardian he changed as a teenager when a serious allegation was made against him. The newspaper did not say what the accusation was.
Carrick joined the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment aged 19 and went on tours to Cyprus and the Falklands.
About 15 years ago, he cut off contact with his mother because, she believes, he did not like his younger half-brother and sister.
She told the newspaper she was devastated by the allegations against him, adding: “He’s still my boy, still my son. I just don’t know why he’s done it.
“You know, when he was doing well, and now he’s lost everything.”
