Sadiq Khan ordered to sort out crisis-hit Met Police: London Mayor told to take ‘immediate action’

Priti Patel has ordered Sadiq Khan to take ‘immediate action’ to sort out the failing Met as it was placed into special measures after a devastating inspection revealed a catalogue of new scandals – including 69,000 crimes going unrecorded every year. 

Scotland Yard was blasted for its ‘barely adequate standard of crime recording accuracy, with less than half of crime recorded within 24 hours and almost no crimes recorded when victims report antisocial behaviour against them’.   

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

Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their case, they were not given appropriate support, and officers were not seeking their views before finalising crime reports.

He went on to criticise ‘the lack of a detailed understanding of capacity and capability across all aspects of policing’, saying the Met had ‘an insufficiently comprehensive understanding of demand’.

The move triggered a row between Miss Patel and Mr Khan. In a statement the Home Secretary said: ‘I support the action that HMICFRS has taken today to highlight their failings – and I expect the Met and the London Mayor to take immediate action to begin addressing them.’ 

The unprecedented step means the Metropolitan Police will face external monitoring and must come up with an improvement plan. 

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

 

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) announced that ‘systemic concerns’ about the force’s performance raised by a new inspection had been so grave that the force needed to be put under special measures.

In the new inspection, which has yet to be made public in full, Her Majesty’s Inspector Matt Parr condemned the force’s performance in handling 999 and non-emergency calls, saying it is ‘falling far short of national standards’, with staff failing to assess vulnerability, identify repeat victims and not offering advice about preserving evidence to catch offenders.

Mr Parr said victims were not told when officers were dropping their case, they were not given appropriate support, and officers were not seeking their views before finalising crime reports.

He went on to criticise ‘the lack of a detailed understanding of capacity and capability across all aspects of policing’, saying the Metropolitan Police had ‘an insufficiently comprehensive understanding of demand’.

Yesterday a leaked letter from the police inspectorate revealed the force is failing victims across the board. The new annual inspection found:

 

Around 69,000 crimes are going unrecorded each year and almost no crimes are recorded of anti-social behaviour.

• Handling of 999 calls is below national standards.
• There is insufficient supervision and oversight of some investigations.
• Officers fail to record the reason for a stop and search properly in a quarter of cases.
• The force has insufficient capacity to meet demand in public protection.
• There is a ‘persistently large backlog’ of online child abuse referrals.

Last week Scotland Yard revealed eight referrals about strip searches of children have been made to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) after two teenage girls were strip-searched by officers while they were menstruating.

Mr Parr also highlighted the investigation into four murders by serial killer Stephen Port, which he said was marred by ‘seemingly incomprehensible failures’.

He said Scotland Yard ‘hasn’t always shown a great willingness’ to learn from mistakes, echoing a report in March when he warned the ‘arrogant, secretive and lethargic’ force was failing to tackle corruption. 

The Metropolitan Police is now only one of a handful of forces ever to be placed under special measures, which the inspectorate refer to as an ‘engage phase’.  

Priti Patel said yesterday: ‘I expect the police to get the basics right. It is clear the Metropolitan Police Service is falling short of these expectations which is why I support the action that HMICFRS has taken today to highlight their failings – and I expect the Met and the London Mayor to take immediate action to begin addressing them.

‘The process to recruit a new Commissioner is well underway and I have made clear that the successful candidate must demonstrate sustained improvements in the Metropolitan Police Service in order to regain public trust both in London and across the country.

‘The new Commissioner will need to deliver on the public’s priorities for the police – making our streets safer, bearing down on crime and bringing more criminals to justice, while continuing to recruit thousands of new officers to protect local communities.’ 

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

Sir Stephen has been summoned to a meeting next month to discuss a plan of action before a new commissioner is appointed.

A Met spokesman said: ‘We are determined to be a police service Londoners can be proud of. We are talking to the Inspectorate about next steps.’ 

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