Rogue cops who shame the Met: Sex assault, racism and misogyny… damning report exposes criminals at heart of UK’s largest police force – and why they are hanging on to their jobs
- Hundreds of cops getting away with sexual misconduct, racism and misogyny
- Excoriating report lays bare the scale of misconduct festering in the Met Police
- Baroness Casey’s report commissioned in wake of the murder of Sarah Everard
- Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said officers in question should all be sacked
Hundreds of Scotland Yard officers are still in the ranks despite being accused of crimes including sexual assault, domestic abuse, corruption and fraud, an explosive review published today reveals.
Some are getting away with sexual misconduct, ‘systemic racism’ and misogyny, thanks to an ‘anything goes’ attitude in Britain’s biggest force.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the officers involved were ‘undermining our integrity’ – and should be sacked.
Hundreds of ‘criminals in uniform’ are getting away with sexual misconduct, racism and misogyny in Britain’s biggest police force, its commissioner admitted yesterday.
An excoriating report out today lays bare the scale of misconduct and criminal behaviour festering within the Metropolitan Police.
Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley, who has been in the job for only a month, conceded his force is riddled with hundreds of officers ‘behaving disgracefully, undermining our integrity’ – and who need kicking out.
Hundreds of ‘criminals in uniform’ are getting away with sexual misconduct, racism and misogyny in Britain’s biggest police force, its commissioner admitted yesterday
The bombshell report by Baroness Casey, was commissioned in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by Met officer Wayne Couzens (pictured)
ELEVEN misconduct allegations … but officer remains in his job
Sir Mark Rowley has said he was unable to get rid of officers if a legally qualified chairman in a misconduct hearing decided they could keep their job.
Among the shocking cases uncovered was an officer facing 11 misconduct cases involving abuse, sexual harassment and assault, fraud, improper disclosure of information and distribution of an explicit image of himself. The officer received a formal sanction in relation to the first allegation of harassment and assault but was not dismissed.
By then, six more cases, including sexual assault and serious assault, had been raised.
After a formal sanction, four more cases were brought and the officer received another formal sanction but was not dismissed. He is still serving.
Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley was unable to get rid of officers if a legally qualified chairman in a misconduct hearing decided they could keep their job
One officer who has had six misconduct cases against him for oppressive conduct and harassment, neglect of duty, leakage of information and discriminatory behaviour linked to race and faith has remained in post. The discrimination and harassment allegations were linked to social media, including a Whatsapp group. The officer has received two final written warnings in ten years. He received a ‘no case to answer’ decision for three of the cases and one case remains open. He, too, is still serving.
An officer with seven misconduct cases against him including corrupt practice, sexual assault and domestic abuse, has kept his job. A month after his third case, he was involved in a domestic assault, but a chairman decided this did not constitute misconduct. Seven months later, an allegation of sexual assault and domestic abuse was made which resulted in no action.
In total, the officer has received management action three times, reflective practice once and ‘no case to answer’ three times.
The bombshell report by Baroness Casey, commissioned in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by Met officer Wayne Couzens, has uncovered how scores of officers are allowed to remain in the ranks despite being accused of appalling crimes, including sexual assault, domestic abuse, corruption and fraud.
Its shocking conclusions, which reduced the new commissioner to tears, revealed ‘systemic racism’ and discrimination in the force’s shoddy disciplinary system that resulted in a shameful culture where ‘anything goes’ and officers cannot be sacked despite committing successive crimes.
It raises the prospect that, far from being an isolated case, there may be many other predatory sex offenders like Couzens within the ranks. When asked how many ‘criminals in uniform’ he thought he had in his force, Sir Mark said: ‘You have to come to the conclusion there must be hundreds of people that shouldn’t be here, who should be thrown out.
‘There must be hundreds who are behaving disgracefully, undermining our integrity and need ejecting.’
Rogue officers can be hard to weed out as the outcome of misconduct hearings are determined by independent legally qualified chairmen, leaving frustrated police chiefs powerless to change the sanction if an officer is not sacked.
Sir Mark called for an overhaul of the system, which would require a change in the law, something which is being considered by Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
The report found:
- Officers are virtually unsackable, with only 5 per cent of all misconduct cases ending in dismissal;
- Some officers have faced 19 misconduct probes and one accused of 11 matters including sexual harassment, assault, fraud, leaking information and sending naked images is still in post;
- Racism in the ranks results in black officers and staff being 81 per cent more likely to be accused of misconduct than their white colleagues;
- Sexual degradation of female officers and bullying is encouraged by some managers;
- About 20 per cent of officers accused face multiple misconduct cases, yet less than 1 per cent are fired.
Sir Mark apologised as he said the ‘painful’ report ‘shames us’. He said it was ‘hard not to shed a tear’ at how some female and black officers had been treated, admitting the report had left him angry and ‘upset’.
Currently, only about 30 to 50 officers are dismissed a year from the force. Figures show that just 5 per cent of almost 9,000 Met officers and staff accused of misconduct since 2013 have been sacked.
Of the 1,809 who faced more than one misconduct case, just 13 were fired – less than 1 per cent.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) said the officers involved were ‘undermining our integrity’ – and should be sacked
More than 500 officers were involved in three to five misconduct probes, 41 officers faced more than six and some stood accused of as many as 19 matters.
‘This leaves many officers and staff in the Met to conclude that discriminatory behaviour is in fact not a breach of professional standards and adds to the sense that “anything goes”,’ Baroness Casey said. The former Whitehall troubleshooter condemned the Met’s misconduct system as ‘not fit for purpose’, saying it has been infected by ‘systemic racism’ for a decade, with black officers and staff 81 per cent and Asian officers 55 per cent more likely to be accused of misconduct than white colleagues.
Black probationary officers are 126 per cent and Asian officers 123 per cent more likely to be forced out compared to their white colleagues, who often escape sanction for lying during vetting and failing exams.
The report also lifted the lid on the tolerance of predatory sexual behaviour within the ranks.
In one unit, 47 per cent of female staff said they had experienced sexism and misogyny in the past six months. In another borough, 22 per cent of public protection officers and 37 per cent of emergency response officers had been the victim of unwanted sexual advances or touching.
One female officer recalled ‘being told that if you fell asleep on a night shift you couldn’t claim there was no consent to unwanted sexual touching’. After one officer was convicted of an offence, it emerged that a female colleague had reported him for sexual assault but supervisors did not act.
Others told Baroness Casey of their frustration that wrongdoers went unpunished, describing the system as ‘stacked against them’. Many were discouraged to report misconduct and made to ‘feel like they were the one with the problem when they raised a conduct issue’.
One inspector said: ‘We don’t want this behaviour in the Met. If we worked for Tesco we’d be able to sack someone for less.’
Baroness Casey found that allegations of sexual misconduct or discrimination were less likely to result in a case to answer than other claims. An internal review revealed that 24 officers had been investigated two or more times for sexual misconduct and domestic abuse but previous allegations had not been taken into consideration.
Sir Mark called for an overhaul of the system, which would require a change in the law, something which is being considered by Home Secretary Suella Braverman (pictured)
The report is just the first from the peer who was brought in to look at misconduct procedures and the culture within the force after a series of scandals.
As it was published, the Home Office announced a review of the systems to sack police officers, whether forces are using powers to dismiss probationary officers, and if regulations governing the disciplinary system should be changed. Mrs Braverman said: ‘The public rightly expects the highest standards of behaviour from police officers and the vast majority meet this expectation.
‘But recently too many high-profile incidents and reports, especially in London, have damaged trust – which is unfair on the public and lets down other serving officers. This cannot continue. 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.’
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