Root out corrupt officers or lose vetting power, police told

POLICE forces will be stripped of their right to vet their own officers if they fail to root out corrupt staff.

Watchdogs are to get new powers to suspend forces that fail to carry out proper checks after vetting scandals that left officers including David Carrick and Wayne Couzens free to commit their crimes of sexual violence.

Forces will have to be certified to vet their staff and will be stripped of the right to do so if annual inspections find they are not up to scratch.

It will mean an outside force will be brought in to take over the checks, overseen by the College of Policing and the chief inspector of police.

The move is part of an overhaul of vetting ordered by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, after blunders left Carrick free to carry out sex attacks on at least 12 women over an 18-year period.

Carrick, 48, was jailed for life after admitting to 85 serious offences including 48 rapes. Among the errors in his case was the Metropolitan Police’s failure to vet him regularly.

He should have undergone checks at the 10-year point of his career in 2011 but this did not take place until 2017.

The move will put vetting on a par with the way forces are licensed to deploy firearms and undercover officers. A source said: “We will go to forces and ensure they are doing it properly.

“If we go in and they are not, then we can suspend the licence and they would have to get someone else to do it or not be able to pay anyone.”