Drink driving, drugs, sex offences: One in 200 Met Police officers have criminal records
More than 150 Met Police officers have criminal records, for crimes including drink driving, drug possession and sexual offences, the force has admitted.
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley revealed 161 serving officers have been convicted of crimes – including 76 for serious traffic offences including drink driving and careless driving.
Another 49 have convictions for dishonest or violent crimes – eight of whom committed the offences while they were police officers and remain serving with the force.
Other crimes include drug possession, criminal damage and public order offences. Three serving officers have convictions for sexual offences.
The figures make for “troubling reading”, Sir Mark said.
It comes after an excoriating report by branded the Met Police “institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynist” and the commissioner faced criticism for refusing to accept the term ‘institutional’.
The force lurched between scandals in recent years, including the murder of Sarah Everard by cop Wayne Couzens and PC David Carrick’s unmasking as a serial abuser and rapist.
Top cops from serious organised crime and counter-terrorism squads have been moved to the Met’s internal standards team to help clean-up its workforce.
Sir Mark who took over in September after the mayor lost confidence in Dame Cressida Dick believes there are hundreds of corrupt officers serving who should not be in the job.
Writing to home secretary Suella Braverman and London mayor Sadiq Khan, he said: “The scale and urgency of this work has meant diverting officers from other missions.”
What is the Met doing?
The Met is reviewing officers and staff to try to weed out those who should not be in uniform, including reviewing 1,131 records of domestic violence or sexual offences accusations.
Sir Mark said he is considering tightening criminal conviction rules, to ban those prosecuted for anything other than “the most trivial matters” or offences committed under the age of 18.
Of the Met workforce of around 34,000 officers, 701 are currently on restricted duties.
Braverman said it was “crucial” the public had faith in the Met and confirmed her “confidence in [Sir Mark’s] plan to turn around” the force.
Khan said the letter revealed “some disturbing findings”, adding: “Londoners, like me, will be appalled to hear that 161 serving police officers in the Met have a criminal conviction.”