Thursday, April 06, 2023
Met vetting procedures under fire
The Independent reports that the Metropolitan Police’s vetting system is under fire after it emerged that convicted sex offenders are among those with criminal convictions still serving in the force.
They add that Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says that there are “sex offender cases” and “serious violence cases” among the 161 officers with criminal convictions – admitting the rules around getting rid of unfit staff were “crazy”:
Susan Hall, chair of the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee, said the figures “proved” the current Scotland Yard vetting service is not “fit for purpose”.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if she was prepared to accept 161 officers with convictions, she said: “No. How on earth did they ever get through?”
Ms Hall added “It does prove that the vetting service isn’t fit for purpose. They’ve got to set the bar much higher. We’ve got to make sure that the public have confidence in our police force.”
The country’s biggest police force has moved officers from tackling serious and organised crime and counter-terrorism to internal standards to help clean-up its own workforce.
The Met has admitted 161 officers have criminal convictions, including three serving officers have convictions for sexual offences. Another 49 have convictions for crimes of dishonesty or violence – eight of whom committed the offences while they were police officers and remain serving with the force.
Sir Mark told the Radio 4 Today programme: “I think the current policy is too permissive and leaves too much ground for interpretation. There’s certainly some people when I looked at the list and thought, ‘Crikey – that’s not right’.”
But the commissioner admitted that it was “crazy” that there is not enough “leeway” to dismiss the “hundreds” of people in the force who should not be there – agreeing that the regulations have to change for necessary dismissals.
He told the BBC the force is under police regulations rather than “normal employment law”, adding: “Those regulations over time have become byzantine and complex.
Sir Mark said: “People will be shocked. Some of the people on that list of criminal convictions are people that the Met has sacked [and been reinstated].”
The commissioner added: “So not having clear provision to dismiss people who have failed the re-vetting process is crazy.”
It is little wonder that the vast majority of women mistrust the Met to sort themselves out.
They add that Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says that there are “sex offender cases” and “serious violence cases” among the 161 officers with criminal convictions – admitting the rules around getting rid of unfit staff were “crazy”:
Susan Hall, chair of the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee, said the figures “proved” the current Scotland Yard vetting service is not “fit for purpose”.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if she was prepared to accept 161 officers with convictions, she said: “No. How on earth did they ever get through?”
Ms Hall added “It does prove that the vetting service isn’t fit for purpose. They’ve got to set the bar much higher. We’ve got to make sure that the public have confidence in our police force.”
The country’s biggest police force has moved officers from tackling serious and organised crime and counter-terrorism to internal standards to help clean-up its own workforce.
The Met has admitted 161 officers have criminal convictions, including three serving officers have convictions for sexual offences. Another 49 have convictions for crimes of dishonesty or violence – eight of whom committed the offences while they were police officers and remain serving with the force.
Sir Mark told the Radio 4 Today programme: “I think the current policy is too permissive and leaves too much ground for interpretation. There’s certainly some people when I looked at the list and thought, ‘Crikey – that’s not right’.”
But the commissioner admitted that it was “crazy” that there is not enough “leeway” to dismiss the “hundreds” of people in the force who should not be there – agreeing that the regulations have to change for necessary dismissals.
He told the BBC the force is under police regulations rather than “normal employment law”, adding: “Those regulations over time have become byzantine and complex.
Sir Mark said: “People will be shocked. Some of the people on that list of criminal convictions are people that the Met has sacked [and been reinstated].”
The commissioner added: “So not having clear provision to dismiss people who have failed the re-vetting process is crazy.”
It is little wonder that the vast majority of women mistrust the Met to sort themselves out.
