London confidence in Met Police plummets amid series of controversies
Confidence in the Metropolitan Police has dropped in the past year, according to new research, while the first part of the inquiry into Sarah Everard’s murder is underway.
Research by the Police Foundation and Crest Advisory found “worrying evidence” that trust and confidence in the Met police had worsened amid a series of controversies.
It comes as Met Police officer David Carrick is charged with six counts of rape, taking to total number of charges he faces to 29, the Crown Prosecution Services confirmed this afternoon.
“We can only speculate as to the causes of this but policing in London has been at the centre of a number of controversies in recent months, including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer, the policing of protest and an increased focus on the impact of policing on Black communities,” the study said.
The study also found that a “Covid-19 dividend”, an opportunity granted to officers during the UK’s lockdowns where streets were quiet, failed to materialise in tracking down drug kingpins.
Officers were instead caught up in policing Covid-19 laws, a rise in anti-social behaviour, protests from groups such as Black Lives Matter and policing small-scale drug dealers instead of their bosses.
Police officers and staff are also said to have covered up more than 100 cases of misconduct by colleagues in an 18-month period, according to The Times.
Dozens of police have been accused of failing to act when colleagues have behaved inappropriately, figures obtained by freedom of information requests found.
Two constables took photos of the bodies of London sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, who had been murdered, and sent them to fellow officers via WhatsApp – were only caught due to an anonymous tip-off.
The two constables, Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis, were jailed for 33 months in December.