Metropolitan Police report: Hundreds of officers getting away with misconduct

By Harry Low

Hundreds of Metropolitan Police officers have been getting away with breaking the law and misconduct, a damning report has found.

Baroness Louise Casey found many claims of sexual misconduct, misogyny, racism and homophobia were badly mishandled.

One serving officer had 11 misconduct notices for allegations involving assault, sexual harassment and fraud.

The Metropolitan Police Service is the force responsible for law enforcement in the Greater London area.

Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the findings showed hundreds of his officers should have been sacked.

The interim report on misconduct procedures and the culture in the Met also found misogyny and racial disparity across the force's internal disciplinary system, with a "systemic bias" against black and Asian officers.

Author Baroness Casey said: "We have heard repeatedly from colleagues that they feel and believe, and actually have given us case examples of where people are getting away both with misconduct but also criminal behaviour".

According to the report, some 1809 officers - or 20 percent of all those facing allegations - had more than one complaint raised against them, with 500 of those facing between three to five separate misconduct cases since 2013.

And yet Baroness Casey's team said that fewer than 1 percent of officers facing multiple allegations had been dismissed from the force, with one continuing to serve despite facing multiple serious allegations - including corruption, traffic offences and "failure to safeguard while off duty".

Sir Mark admitted it had been hard not to shed a tear at how people had been treated when they had complained about the conduct of fellow officers and nothing had happened.

Asked how many officers or staff should have been sacked for their behaviour, he admitted only between 30 and 50 people were sacked a year and that was not enough.

He said: "There must be hundreds of people who shouldn't be here who should have been thrown out."

In a written reply to Baroness Casey, the commissioner said he was "appalled by the extent of the findings you expose".

He added: "I am sorry to those we have let down: both the public and our honest and dedicated officers."

The report was commissioned in the aftermath of the rape, kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard by serving Met PC Wayne Couzens.

Baroness Casey described the current system as "not fit for purpose" and said "this has to be a line in the sand moment".

She added there was such a great level of systemic bias and racism that it might be called an example of institutional racism, although that was not the same as saying the Met was institutionally racist.

In a letter to Sir Mark, Baroness Casey laid out eight key issues, including the length of time taken to resolve misconduct cases, currently an average of about a year.

She wrote: "Cases are taking too long to resolve, allegations are more likely to be dismissed than acted upon, the burden on those raising concerns is too heavy, and there is racial disparity across the system, with white officers dealt with less harshly than black or Asian officers."

Last month, the Met's performance was found to be "failing" in several areas by the police inspectorate which said there were "serious failings" in the way it operates.

This latest report outlined examples of "how the misconduct process does not find and discipline officers with repeated, or patterns of, unacceptable behaviour".

There was one serving officer who had received 11 misconduct notices for cases involving abuse, sexual harassment and assault, fraud, improper disclosure of information and distribution of an explicit image of himself.

By the time a decision on the first misconduct matter had been made, which was to sanction rather than dismiss for harassment and assault, he had received six more notices against him.

- BBC, additional reporting RNZ