Met chief warns of pressure on officers
METROPOLITAN Police Commissioner Cressida Dick claims police officers could have to be moved from frontline duties to tackle the growing crisis associated with disclosure in rape cases.
Scotland Yard launched a review of 600 sex assault allegations amid fears that scores of investigations could have been tainted by a failure to fully investigate and disclose digital evidence.
But Ms Dick warned that the extra workload this is placing on her officers means she will have to consider moving resources from other areas of policing.
The Commissioner insisted said she took the non-disclosure matter “very seriously” but said the vast amount of material that had to be examined during investigations made the task extremely difficult.
Violence
She said: “This is something that’s causing I know, the public a lot of concern, not just in London, but beyond. Something I’m taking very seriously indeed. I’d like to say that I’m absolutely clear, my officers do act fairly, they do act impartially.
“It is a very, very complicated system that we’re working in and there are ever increasing amounts of digital media that the officers have to look at, particularly in cases where the two parties, as in most serious sexual offences, for example domestic violence, child abuse investigations, know each other, so they have to work their way through a mountain of material and this is becoming more and more difficult. So at one level, yes there is a question about resources.”
Ms Dick said it was “unthinkable” that an innocent person could be found guilty because relevant evidence had not been identified and disclosed.
She said: “What we don’t want are any miscarriages of justice. What we do have is an action plan.
“We will have to put some more resources into that, and I have to ensure that my officers are feeling well trained and well supported and where possible, have the best technology that can support them in this work.”