Diverting resources from counter-terrorism and organised crime units in order to clean up the Metropolitan Police would be nobody’s first choice. But Scotland Yard is in such a state, and public trust so damaged, that there is little alternative.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has urged Londoners to back his mission to sack hundreds of officers who have riddled the force like a “cancer”. Reviews are currently underway into 885 staff who kept their jobs following allegations of domestic violence or sexual offences since 2013. In isolation, these numbers are shocking. But such is the low bar the Met has set for itself following the scandals of recent years that action around it represents progress.
