Met Police is failing to investigate crimes and manage offenders adequately, damning report finds

15 August 2024, 00:04

The Metropolitan Police is failing to investigate crimes and manage offenders adequately, according to another damning review of its services.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has found the force is performing below the basic standards expected in seven out of eight areas - with serious concerns being raised.

Lee Freeman told LBC: “We have serious concerns about how it is investigating crime and managing suspects and offenders.

“We found complex crimes being allocated to officers with only basic investigative experience and we also found inexperienced officers in local boroughs with very high workloads beyond their current training and capability.”

That means the force “doesn’t always carry out effective investigations,” the report said.

The Inspector of Constabulary continued: “Getting the basics right is absolutely critical to improving and regaining public trust and confidence. 

“The force has an ambitious plan to improve all of those but we need to see more work to ensure that it now translates into things the public can see and feel.”

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Recruitment issues have continued to pose significant challenges for Scotland Yard, with the Commissioner Mark Rowley telling LBC last month, “we need thousands of officers,” as he encouraged members of the public to consider joining.

But the inability to meet expectations in investigating crime, London’s independent victims’ commissioner, Claire Waxman, said shows “unacceptably slow progress in the transformation this force urgently needs, and a continued failure to comply with the Victims’ Code – which is now a legal requirement.”

She added: “The Met consistently failed to help victims access their rights, to contact victims in time, to complete needs assessments, and to recognise when victims are entitled to an enhanced service. 

“I am deeply disappointed that, despite all of the work that we have collectively put into this, the Met are still not achieving the basic level of service which victims want and need.”

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HMIC also found that the management of sex offenders by the Metropolitan Police was “inconsistent” with a backlog of visits and more than 10% of risk assessments and risk management plans overdue.

Inspector Lee Freeman said: “It’s inconsistent in the way that it protects those officers who are engaged in managing the offenders - they are being pulled away on occasion to fill other duties away from their core role, instead of managing the risks posed by those sex offenders.

“It needs to be more consistent and make sure that the policies it has are adhered to right across the capital.”

The Met was put into special measures - called ‘Engage’ - in 2022 after “a litany of systemic failings” was identified. They included tens of thousands of unrecorded crimes, delays in answering 999 calls and the reason given for some stop and searches not being logged.

Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving officer and the controversies around the strip searching of children like Child Q were also cited.

Since then, the Commissioner has been replaced and a different leadership team has been brought in, who have said repeatedly that changes are being made with their ‘A New Met for London’ plan.

But while inspectors noted an improvement in call answering times, the latest report also said that “some of the key strategic decisions and changes that have already been made, haven’t yet translated into consistent improvements”.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: “The Met is using every available resource to deliver more trust, less crime and high standards for London. [The report] underlines why this continuing reform is needed. ONS data shows that confidence in the Met is above other big cities and overall crime in London is below them.

“It is positive to see the Inspectorate agree ‘A New Met for London’ is the right plan to deliver improvements and that we are making progress. “Since this inspection took place, we have already agreed a plan to move forward from the enhanced HMICFRS monitoring (known as ‘Engage’).

“We are now reflecting carefully on the findings, the core of which reflect our ‘A New Met for London’ plans and the briefing we gave to the HMIC. We will continue to work closely with the Inspectorate, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, and other partners to improve delivery for Londoners.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “Londoners should rightly expect to have the best possible police service and I'm determined to do everything in my power to make policing in London better.

“The New Met for London Plan has set the Met on the right path, and while we have seen progress including improvements in call handling and new approaches to target the most harmful offenders, this welcome report makes it clear that there is still much more to be done.

“I will continue to support and challenge the Commissioner to address the shortcomings and deliver the progress that is required to ensure that the Met commands the trust and confidence of all Londoners, as we build a safer London for everyone.”