Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Action on the Metropolitan Police, at last
The Times reports that the Metropolitan Police has been put in special measures by the policing watchdog after it highlighted systemic problems including scandals and a failure to log 69,000 crimes.
The paper says that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services cited “substantial and persistent concerns” about performance including failures to stamp out corruption and properly investigate crime:
Matt Parr, the watchdog’s inspector for London, said the abduction, rape and murder last year of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and repeated misconduct scandals had a “chilling effect on public trust and confidence”. However, it was a recent force-wide inspection that prompted the move to special measures, which will place extra scrutiny on the Met and require its leadership to produce a remedial plan.
Parr cited 14 new failures including a “barely adequate standard of crime-recording accuracy”. In a letter to Sir Steve House, the acting commissioner, he said that an estimated 69,000 crimes were going unrecorded each year, less than half of crime was recorded within 24 hours and almost no antisocial behaviour crimes were being recorded.
Among other concerns were a lack of victim engagement, a persistently large backlog of online child abuse referrals and a “lack of detailed understanding” of capability across all policing.
House must now come up with a plan and report regularly to inspectors, the Home Office and other organisations.
...
Parr cited prominent incidents that raised concerns, including officers at Charing Cross who exchanged racist and sexist messages, the strip search of the black schoolgirl Child Q and the “seemingly incomprehensible failures” to stop the serial killer Stephen Port. He was also concerned by the force’s stop-and-search policy and highlighted the handcuffing of the innocent black Team GB athlete Bianca Williams in 2020. In a report this year the watchdog said that Scotland Yard had hired more than 100 criminals in only two years and its ability to tackle corruption was “fundamentally flawed”. Parr also said the Met should be willing to learn lessons but “hasn’t always shown a great willingness to do so”.
The failures of the Met have been evident for a some time, so this move is very welcome, but why did it take so long to put into effect?
The paper says that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services cited “substantial and persistent concerns” about performance including failures to stamp out corruption and properly investigate crime:
Matt Parr, the watchdog’s inspector for London, said the abduction, rape and murder last year of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and repeated misconduct scandals had a “chilling effect on public trust and confidence”. However, it was a recent force-wide inspection that prompted the move to special measures, which will place extra scrutiny on the Met and require its leadership to produce a remedial plan.
Parr cited 14 new failures including a “barely adequate standard of crime-recording accuracy”. In a letter to Sir Steve House, the acting commissioner, he said that an estimated 69,000 crimes were going unrecorded each year, less than half of crime was recorded within 24 hours and almost no antisocial behaviour crimes were being recorded.
Among other concerns were a lack of victim engagement, a persistently large backlog of online child abuse referrals and a “lack of detailed understanding” of capability across all policing.
House must now come up with a plan and report regularly to inspectors, the Home Office and other organisations.
...
Parr cited prominent incidents that raised concerns, including officers at Charing Cross who exchanged racist and sexist messages, the strip search of the black schoolgirl Child Q and the “seemingly incomprehensible failures” to stop the serial killer Stephen Port. He was also concerned by the force’s stop-and-search policy and highlighted the handcuffing of the innocent black Team GB athlete Bianca Williams in 2020. In a report this year the watchdog said that Scotland Yard had hired more than 100 criminals in only two years and its ability to tackle corruption was “fundamentally flawed”. Parr also said the Met should be willing to learn lessons but “hasn’t always shown a great willingness to do so”.
The failures of the Met have been evident for a some time, so this move is very welcome, but why did it take so long to put into effect?
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