Police chief to review policies after killing of Sarah
‘WE ARE COMMITTED TO THE SAFETY OF WOMEN AND GIRLS’
DERBYSHIRE’S chief constable has spoken out in response to the sentencing of Wayne Couzens for the murder of Sarah Everard.
Rachel Swann said the force would be reviewing its policies on plain-clothes officers and wanted to reassure the community that Derbyshire officers are doing all they can to gain the public’s confidence in policing.
Couzens will die behind bars after kidnapping, raping and murdering Sarah. The 48-year-old former constable was handed a rare whole-life sentence at the Old Bailey on Thursday by Lord Justice Fulford, who said his “warped, selfish and brutal” offences had eroded confidence in the police.
The judge said he had been planning for at least a month before abducting Ms Everard, 33, while he was in plain clothes and driving an unmarked car as she walked home from a friend’s house in Clapham, south London, on the evening of March 3.
In a statement issued yesterday, Derbyshire’s chief constable said: “The details that have emerged of the circumstances surrounding the rape, kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard in London have shocked us all.
“Our thoughts are with Sarah’s family and friends at this very difficult time.
“Policing has been rocked by what Wayne Couzens did, knowing that a police officer could commit such evil and atrocious actions.
“This goes against everything that we stand for. I understand that his actions have undermined trust in policing, but I want to reassure our communities that we will be doing all we can to gain the confidence of the public.
“We are stringent with our vetting checks, and these are carried out throughout people’s policing careers. We have had a small number of investigations into the inappropriate behaviour of officers or
staff and, where proven, people have been dismissed. There is no place for that in policing.
“We have a dedicated and committed workforce and have seen an increasing number of female officers wanting to make a difference to keeping people safe, with
women accounting for around 40% of our officers. “There are very few incidents where a lone officer in plain clothes would be stopping another vehicle without other resources being involved. However, because of this case, we will be reviewing our policies regarding plainclothes officers in unmarked cars, and we want to try to make sure people do not feel isolated or unsafe while engaging with them.
The onus is on us to do that, to create a safe environment, not on those women and girls we are engaging with.
“As a police service, Derbyshire Constabulary is committed to the safety of women and girls, and we are fully committed to delivering the new National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) strategy for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), which will prioritise action against sexual and predatory offenders.
“We are developing a Derbyshire-wide VAWG strategy and plan to deliver that.
“But as a society we need the narrative to change, we need to stop asking women to change what they do in order to try to keep themselves safe; instead challenging as a community the behaviour of those who make women feel unsafe or where ‘banter’ hides sexism, or harassment is portrayed as a compliment.”
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