Police in London have suspended or restricted the powers of more than 1,000 officers. Reason: misconduct. An investigation by the authority confirms institutional racism and sexism.
London’s Metropolitan Police have suspended or barred more than 1,000 officers from service for alleged misconduct. This was announced by the police authority, also known as Scotland Yard, according to British media reports. Accordingly, more than 200 civil servants are currently suspended and 860 have had their duties restricted.
“This is almost the size of a smaller police force in other parts of the country,” Deputy Commissioner Stuart Cundy told British journalists. Last year alone, 100 civil servants were reportedly dismissed from service for serious misconduct. Cundy expects many more cases of police misconduct to emerge in the next few years as the agency works through a backlog of cases and about 60 officers face disciplinary action each month.
“Institutional racist, sexist and homophobic”
The Metropolitan Police has been rocked by a series of serious scandals in recent years. A change at the top should bring about a turnaround. The new Scotland Yard boss Mark Rowley announced radical reform. However, an independent investigation in March confirmed that the authority was “institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic”.
Two cases in particular caused horror: the sexual murder of a London woman by officer Wayne Couzens in March 2021 and dozens of rapes and other sexual assaults by officer David Carrick. The two were sentenced to life imprisonment. Both had temporarily worked in the unit responsible for protecting Parliament, which, according to the police, is now largely to be replaced.
Trust damaged
The investigation also found that the agency failed to properly vet and train officers and that many of them were allowed to stay on the job even after being accused of domestic violence or racial harassment. The scandals have shaken public trust in Britain’s largest police force and the capital’s 34,000 officers.