In the coming weeks and months, two or three Met Police officers per week are expected to appear in court on criminal charges, according to the force’s chief.
As the force confronts its issues, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley says the public should “prepare for more painful stories.”
He stated that the instances involved “violence against women and girls,” such as domestic violence and sex offenses.
He added, “There is a trickle of them, and more will be surfacing.”
Sir Mark addressed the Greater London Authority’s Police and Crime Committee in light of the case of PC David Carrick. Who admitted to committing dozens of rapes and sexual assaults against 12 women on January 16.
The head of the Metropolitan Police Department also mentioned the case of PC Hussain Chehab. Who pleaded guilty to child sex offenses on Tuesday.
Following a string of scathing reviews and scandals, the Met is currently under special measures.
Sir Mark urged the public not to lose hope as the Metropolitan Police Department uncovered hundreds of allegedly corrupt officers.
“Will not be resolved immediately”
He told the committee, “I deeply regret that we have not applied the same level of ruthlessness to protecting our integrity as we do when confronting criminals.”
He also stated, “Raising the stone and disclosing painful truths will not be resolved overnight, and I cannot pretend otherwise. I hope you understand that this cannot be done.
As we confront the issues that we face, we must be prepared for more painful stories.
During the discussion, he also disclosed that a new Met corruption hotline was receiving tens of calls every week, a third of which were forwarded to other forces.
However, he emphasized that work on broader changes of the Met “will not be swift.”
In response to a committee’s inquiry as to whether some Metropolitan Police Department teams have a disproportionate number of abusive or corrupt officers, Sir Mark stated that the department was examining units for “warning signs.”
Covert techniques
“There are pockets, but there are too many pockets because we have not been good enough systemically,” he added.
He emphasized that the problem was greater than “a few bad apples” and added that the Met’s anti-corruption and abuse command was being urged to “use more covert techniques proactively.”
This included “more intrusive” monitoring of internal communications “when there is a good cause,” as Sir Mark explained.
The force is currently reviewing allegations of violence against women and girls made against 1,071 officers. And other employees of the Metropolitan Police Department over the past decade.
Sir Mark stated that several of these officers and employees had “many cases” pending against them.
The evaluation is anticipated to be finished by the end of March.
Additionally, Sir Mark had already announced that all 45,000 Met officers and personnel will be rechecked for previously overlooked criminal activity.
