Humiliation for Scotland Yard: catalog of shocking failures puts Met under special measures

Scotland Yard was placed under special measures yesterday after a devastating inspection revealed a catalog of new failures.

Officers from Britain’s largest police force failed to record tens of thousands of crimes, ignored nearly all victims of anti-social behaviour, failed vulnerable victims and overlooked a huge backlog of online abuse referrals of children.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Police and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) announced that the “systemic concerns” about the performance of the force raised by a new inspection had been so serious that the force had to be subjected to special measures.

This unprecedented step means the Metropolitan Police will face external scrutiny and will have to come up with a plan for improvement.

The damning indictment comes after Commissioner Cressida Dick was forced to resign in February following a torrid year of scandals that saw the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, with the force branded as ‘corrupt institutionally” by an independent investigation and two officers jailed for photographing the bodies of murder victims.

Yesterday, a leaked letter from the police inspectorate revealed that force was failing victims at all levels. The new annual inspection revealed:

About 69,000 crimes go unrecorded each year and almost no crimes are recorded for antisocial behavior.

• The handling of 999 calls is below national standards.
• Oversight and monitoring of some investigations are insufficient.
• Officers do not correctly record the reason for a stop and search in a quarter of cases.
• The force does not have sufficient capacity to meet the demand for public protection.
• There is a ‘still large backlog’ of online child abuse referrals.

Last night a war of words erupted when Home Secretary Priti Patel and London Mayor Sadiq Khan clashed over who was responsible for the fiasco.

In a leaked letter to Acting Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Stephen House, Her Majesty’s Inspector Matt Parr warned that the succession of scandals and ‘systemic concerns’ about the force’s performance are ‘likely to have a chilling effect on public confidence in the Met”.

Sarah Everard was abducted, raped and murdered by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens

In June 2020 sisters Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were stabbed to death and officers Deniz Jaffer, 47, and Jamie Lewis, 33, took pictures at the scene at Wembley.

In the new inspection, which has yet to be made public in full, Mr Parr condemned the force’s performance in handling 999 and non-emergency calls, saying it “falls well below national standards “, with staff not assessing vulnerability, identifying repeat victims and not offering advice on preserving evidence to catch offenders.

He lambasted the force for ignoring crimes, saying it had “a barely adequate level of accuracy in recording crimes, with around 69,000 unrecorded crimes each year, less than half of the crimes recorded in 24 hours and almost no crime recorded when victims report antisocial behavior against them”.

Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their cases, they were not given the proper support and officers did not seek their input before finalizing crime reports.

He went on to criticize “the lack of detailed understanding of capacity and capability in all aspects of policing”, saying the Metropolitan Police had “an insufficiently comprehensive understanding of the demand”.

Last week, Scotland Yard revealed that eight referrals for strip searches of children had been made to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) after two teenage girls were strip searched by officers while they were had their period.

Mr Parr also pointed to the investigation into four murders by serial killer Stephen Port, which he said was marred by “seemingly incomprehensible flaws”.

Mr Parr said Scotland Yard ‘has not always shown a great willingness’ to learn from its mistakes, echoing a report from March when it warned that the ‘arrogant, covert and lethargic’ force was failing not to fight corruption. The Metropolitan Police are now just one of the few forces to have been subject to special measures, which the inspection calls an “engagement phase”.

The move sparked a row between Miss Patel and Mr Khan. In a statement, the Home Secretary said: “I support the action the HMICFRS have taken today to highlight their failures – and I expect the Met and the Mayor of London to take action. to begin to address it.”

The damning indictment comes after Commissioner Cressida Dick was forced to resign in February following a torrid year of scandals that saw the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, with the force branded as ‘corrupt institutionally” by an independent investigation and two officers jailed for photographing the bodies of murder victims. Pictured L-R: Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Nick Bramall, Alastair Morgan, Harvey Proctor, Michael Mcmanus, Paul Gambaccini and Lady Diana Brittan

But Mr Khan hit back, pointing out that he had been the one to kick Lady Cressida out. A source close to the mayor said: ‘He will take no policing lessons from the Home Secretary, who was clearly happy with the status quo and did not want any action taken.’

Sir Stephen has been called to a meeting next month to discuss an action plan ahead of the appointment of a new commissioner.

A Met spokesman said: “We are determined to be a police service that Londoners can be proud of. We are discussing the next steps with the Inspectorate.