Wednesday 2 November 2022 12:13 AM Bombshell report after murder of Sarah Everard reveals even criminals are being ... trends now
Thousands of police have criminal records, are linked to gangsters or pose a risk to the public, watchdogs warned yesterday.
Analysis of personnel files found it was far too easy for misogynistic, corrupt or predatory officers to join up and stay in uniform.
Matt Parr, Inspector of Constabulary, called for better screening to weed out dangerous individuals. Among the bombshell findings in his report were:
Officers could switch forces without vetting information being passed on; Some bosses hired recruits without conducting face-to-face interviews; Others failed to check employment records of applicants and even hired recruits who had lied on applications; Bosses took extra risks on candidates if it helped boost diversity.His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services made a remarkable 43 recommendations to address ‘shoddy’ standards.
Commissioned last October in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard by Met officer Wayne Couzens, the probe examined three forces linked with the killer – Kent Police, the Met and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
Also scrutinised were Cumbria, South Wales, Nottinghamshire, Dorset and Devon and Cornwall.
Mr Parr cited ‘astonishing’ examples of vetting failures, including one special constable who had a 12-month supervision order for indecent exposure as a juvenile.
A neo-Nazi was recruited by Scotland Yard despite featuring in a recruitment video for a banned far-Right group two days before he applied
Benjamin Hannam, 23, became the first constable to be convicted of terror offences after an anonymous hacker tipped off the Met that he was a member of National Action
He applied three times to the same force over 13 years and was eventually cleared by the vetting process after an appeal. Inspectors said he should have been automatically rejected.
Another officer who passed the checks had been caught speeding five years earlier, convicted of attempted theft abroad and was linked with drug dealing and violent criminals.
Inspectors also found examples of recruits with connections to organised criminals. One special officer had ‘extensive criminality’ within his family, including a brother with convictions for drug dealing and violence who was also a person of interest in murder and kidnap investigations.
The applicant claimed to be estranged from his sibling, but no attempt was made to check this was true or to mitigate the risk of corruption. Another officer who claimed he had minimal contact with his criminal brother was in fact living with him.
Despite his dishonesty and the obvious risks, the officer was cleared of any wrongdoing because his lies were ‘not significant enough to deny vetting to a young man [who] has wanted
