Four out of five investigations into officers accused of domestic abuse and sexual violence need to be re-evaluated, police chief Sir Mark Rowley has said.
The force’s top officer had earlier revealed the “brutal and painful” scale of misconduct uncovered in the wake of recent scandals, and urged Londoners to back his mission to sack hundreds of rogue and sex predator officers who had riddled the force like “cancer”.
Some 1,131 previously completed cases where officers and staff were accused of domestic violence or sexual offences in the past 10 years are being rechecked to make sure the right decision was taken.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday, Sir Mark admitted that only a “minority” required no further action and that “more work” is needed in four in five of those cases.
Of the total, 689 face full scrutiny of their work history with new or missed lines of enquiry pursued.
Some 196 individuals causing most concern are being referred into formal risk management measures and may have their vetting status reviewed. About 246 will see no further action.
Furthermore, 161 Met officers were revealed in an open letter to Home Secretary Suella Braverman to have criminal convictions, 76 for serious traffic offences including drink driving and careless driving.
Another 49 have convictions for crimes of dishonesty, criminal damage, public order and drug possession or violence – eight of whom committed the offences while they were police officers and remain serving with the force. Three sex offenders kept their jobs.
“The current policy is too permissive and there’s grounds for interpretation,” said Sir Mark on Thursday morning.
“There’s certainly some people when I’ve looked at the list that I thought, ‘Crikey, that’s not right’. There were some sex offence cases, there were some serious violence cases.”
He once again repeated his call for fresh powers from the Government to boot hundreds of rogue officers out of the force, saying it was “crazy” he could not easily dismiss officers who had failed a re-vetting process.
“People will be shocked. Some of the people on that list of criminal convictions are people that the Met has sacked but the law has reinstated,” he said.
A consultation into the rules governing how police officers are fired is being conducted by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said he welcomed the action being taken by Sir Mark and that the investigations into officers “must be concluded without delay”.
He added: “As I have been saying for some time, Londoners deserve better from the Met and it is right that the bar is high for the conduct of those entrusted with keeping us safe.
“This is an important first step towards rebuilding public trust and confidence, which is so vital to policing by consent, but there is still a lot more to do.”
Susan Hall, chair of the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee, said the figure of 161 officers with criminal convictions “proved" the vetting service is not “fit for purpose".
Asked if she was prepared to accept 161 officers with criminal convictions, she said: “I think the preference is that we don’t have any. They’ve got to set the bar much higher."
Sir Mark has hinted at ruling out employing anybody with an adult conviction or caution in a UK first.
Counter-terrorism and organised crime police have been diverted to anti-corruption teams to clean up the workforce Baroness Louise Casey branded institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynist.
Her major report followed the murder of Sarah Everard by PC Wayne Couzens who worked in the same elite armed unit as serial rapist David Carrick.
All employees in the force are also being checked against the police national database, which is used for intelligence.
So far of the 10,000 records checked, 38 cases of potential misconduct have been uncovered and 55 where there is an off-duty association with a criminal.
The remainder of the records are due to have been checked by the summer.
The trawl has already identified cases when police haven’t notified bosses when arrested or cautioned by an outside force.
Officers and staff are now being re-vetted following a criminal investigation or misconduct hearing. Thirty are already subject to this process that may see them exit under gross incompetence once basic level vetting to enter buildings or access systems is removed.
In the coming months, more than 100 are expected to have their status reviewed, Sir Mark added.
The Commissioner also revealed that there have been 1,000 calls to a Crimestoppers hotline set up four months allowing the public to report Met officers abusing their positions of trust.
These have resulted in 350 reports, already leading to officers being arrested, suspended from duty, put under covert surveillance and given random drug tests. Twenty-three relate to concerns around racism.
Since Sir Mark took over when Dame Cressida Dick was forced to resign, dismissals have increased 70 per cent from 30 to 51, compared with the same six-month period last year.
Misconduct cases and the suspensions of officers for the most serious allegations had nearly doubled. A total of 701 are on restricted duties following complaints.
Sir Mark said it might take two years to tackle the problem as the backlog of officers appearing in court has now reached late 2024.
He earlier said: “There are tens of thousands of hard working men and women in the Met who serve London with honour and integrity. They are tired of being let down by the hundreds who we need to identify and remove.
“It is clear that the vast majority of our officers and staff are determined to confront those who have corrupted our integrity. On the back of the Casey report I only see that growing. I have seen and heard this repeatedly in discussions with those on our frontline. This is our collective fight.
“Their pride in policing is undiminished but it has been challenged. I have been hugely encouraged by their willingness to step forward in these testing times.
“This is the strongest doubling down on standards in the Met for 50 years.”
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “The Met plays a unique role in keeping millions of Londoners safe and protecting the country from terrorism, so it is crucial the public has confidence in the force to carry out these duties with the utmost professionalism.
“I am also driving forward work to review the police dismissals process to ensure the system is effective at removing officers who fall below the standards we expect.”
London mayor Sadiq Khan added: “Londoners, like me, will be appalled to hear that 161 serving police officers in the Met have a criminal conviction and it is right that every single one of those cases will be reviewed by the Met’s Professional Standards team.
“It is right that action is now being taken to review and remove vetting from officers who cannot be trusted to police London – the first step to removing them from the Met altogether. This work is particularly urgent for the hundreds of officers against whom allegations of sexual offending or domestic abuse have been made. These investigations must be concluded without delay.”
