The Metropolitan Police has rejected claims that racial bias influenced its handling of the Owami Davies missing person case.
The student nurse was found “safe and well” in Hampshire on Tuesday more than seven weeks after she went missing.
Ms Davies, 24, was reported as missing on 6 July, having left her family home two days prior. She was last seen walking in Croydon on 7 July and concerns had been growing for her safety.
Her disappearance sparked claims that her case wasn’t as well publicised because she is Black, and colleagues at the NHS Trust where she worked also questioned why information about her going missing wasn’t circulated among staff earlier.
In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, Met commander Paul Brogden said: “Any commentary – including from former police officers – that suggests our response to Owami Davies’ disappearance was insufficient or motivated by racial bias is unsubstantiated and based on speculation.
“This was the biggest missing person investigation conducted by the Met this year and among the biggest in recent years. It involved a significant number of officers including specialist detectives with expertise in complex cases.
“We are very pleased that their extraordinary efforts, with the assistance of the public and the press who shared our appeals, resulted in Owami being found.”
Mr Brogden added: “We always review significant cases to learn and improve and we are doing so in this instance alongside our colleagues from Essex Police. We will be transparent about any lessons that emerge.”
The Met has a track record of mishandling cases of missing Black people including that of Richard Okorogheye, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman who were all subsequently found dead.
It was forced to apologise to the victims’ families after the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) identified failings by Met officers in the wake of formal complaints lodged about its operations – or lack thereof.
It comes after the police watchdog announced it would take no further action against Met officers who came into contact with Ms Davies and let her go after she had been reported missing.
Those officers found her asleep in a doorway in Croydon, on 6 July but she told them that she did not need help and left.
Ms Davies’ family had already reported her missing by the time the officers spoke to her, but they were unaware of her situation because Essex Police had not updated the police database with the information.
