Met ‘not doing enough’ to stop abuse of authority

THE Metropolitan Police force is “not doing enough to prevent officers abusing their position for sexual purposes”.

Following concerns by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) that forces across England and Wales were failing to tackle the problem of officers and staff abusing their authority for sexual gain, forces were given six months to develop and begin to implement a plan to better identify possible abuse.

This included plans to review and improve the ability of counter-corruption units to identify potential abuse of position for a sexual purpose, through being properly resourced and having staff with the right skills, as well as plans for improving capability to monitor and audit IT systems to identify individuals who misuse them for corrupt activity. Forces were also expected to come up with plans for how they would build links to organisations that work with vulnerable people, such as domestic abuse charities, in order to improve intelligence gathering on potential abuses.

The Met Police’s plans did not reflect this national strategy agreed at the National Police Chiefs’ Council in April of this year, according to HMICFRS.

While previous inspections found that the force already had IT systems’ monitoring capability, the Met gave no information to assess progress in reviewing the capability and capacity of its counter-corruption unit or any work done to seek intelligence from organisations that support vulnerable people.

Met Police deputy assistant commissioner Richard Martin said: “None of our staff should exploit their position in this way. We’ve invested a huge amount of effort and work to identify and combat this issue and will continue to do so.

“It’s only right we take such a strong position as we understand such behaviour can taint the public’s confidence in us.”

The inspectorate said the conviction in 2011 of PC Stephen Mitchell from Northumbria Police, found guilty of two rapes, three indecent assaults and six counts of misconduct, should have been a watershed moment for the police service.

Other officers and staff have since been convicted of using their position to engage in sexual activity with vulnerable people they have met through their work.

HMI Mike Cunningham, who led this inspection, said: “When police officers and police staff abuse their position for a sexual purpose it has a devastating effect on the lives of victims, and corrodes trust and confidence in the police.

“It is of great importance that forces are prepared to seek intelligence on this type of corruption, and when they find it deal with it vigorously.”