Tuesday 28 June 2022 11:21 PM Humiliation for Scotland Yard: Catalogue of shocking failures sees Met placed ... trends now
Scotland Yard was placed under special measures yesterday after a devastating inspection revealed a catalogue of new failures.
Officers with Britain's biggest police force failed to record tens of thousands of crimes, ignored almost all victims of anti-social behaviour, let down vulnerable victims and neglected a huge backlog of online child abuse referrals.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) announced that 'systemic concerns' about the force's performance raised by a new inspection had been so grave that the force needed to be put under special measures.
The unprecedented step means the Metropolitan Police will face external monitoring and must come up with an improvement plan.
Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) announced that 'systemic concerns' about the force's performance raised by a new inspection had been so grave that the force needed to be put under special measure. Pictured: Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick
The damning indictment comes after Commissioner Cressida Dick was forced to quit in February following a torrid year of scandals which saw the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, the force being branded 'institutionally corrupt' by an independent inquiry and two officers jailed for photographing bodies of murder victims.
Yesterday a leaked letter from the police inspectorate revealed the force is failing victims across the board. The new annual inspection found:
Around 69,000 crimes are going unrecorded each year and almost no crimes are recorded of anti-social behaviour.
Handling of 999 calls is below national standards. There is insufficient supervision and oversight of some investigations. Officers fail to record the reason for a stop and search properly in a quarter of cases. The force has insufficient capacity to meet demand in public protection. There is a 'persistently large backlog' of online child abuse referrals.Last night a war of words broke out as Home Secretary Priti Patel and London Mayor Sadiq Khan clashed over who was responsible for the fiasco.
In a leaked letter to Acting Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Stephen House, Her Majesty's Inspector Matt Parr warned the succession of scandals and 'systemic concerns' about the force's performance is 'likely to have a chilling effect on public trust and confidence in the Met'.
Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens
In June 2020 sisters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were stabbed to death and officers Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, took photos at the scene in Wembley
In the new inspection, which has yet to be made public in full, Mr Parr condemned the force's performance in handling 999 and non-emergency calls, saying it is 'falling far short of national standards', with staff failing to assess vulnerability, identify repeat victims and not offering advice about preserving evidence to catch offenders.
He blasted the force for ignoring crimes, saying it had 'a barely adequate standard of crime recording accuracy, with an estimated 69,000 crimes going unrecorded each year, less than half of crime recorded within 24 hours, and almost no crimes recorded when victims report antisocial behaviour against them'.
Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their case, they were not given appropriate support, and officers were not seeking their views before finalising crime reports.
He went on to criticise 'the lack of a detailed understanding of capacity and capability across all aspects of policing', saying the Metropolitan Police had 'an insufficiently comprehensive
