Met Police Crackdown Sees Dismissals Soar by 70%
- Dismissals jump 70% in six months—51 officers sacked, up from 30;
- Misconduct cases nearly double with a 95% increase pending gross misconduct hearings;
- Suspensions for serious allegations more than double;
- 30 officers now under new vetting review, with over 100 cases expected;
- Operation Onyx flags 689 past cases needing fresh probes, 196 staff require urgent risk assessments.
Sir Mark Rowley Hails Honest Officers in Fight to Restore Trust
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has praised the majority of hard-working Met officers and staff committed to restoring public confidence amid a relentless focus on raising standards.
Calls to the Met’s internal hotline flagging misconduct have more than doubled in six months—up to 14 reports per week from six previously. Meanwhile, the public anti-corruption hotline, launched with Crimestoppers four months ago, has already received over 1,000 calls, leading to 325 ongoing investigations.
The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards has been bolstered by detectives volunteering from all corners of the force, bringing vital expertise in tackling corruption.
Sir Mark Rowley said: “There are tens of thousands of honest officers in the Met who serve London with pride. They are fed up with the few rotten apples who damage our reputation. The majority are determined to root out corruption. This is a collective fight.”
“Our officers’ pride in policing remains strong but challenged. Their willingness to step up in these tough times has been hugely encouraging. This is the toughest crackdown on standards in 50 years.”
Operation Onyx Uncovers Shocking Failures
Operation Onyx was launched after the horrific case of David Carrick, a Met officer who abused 12 women over 17 years. The scandal exposed massive failings in how past misconduct reports were handled.
Onyx involves a full review of all sexual offence and domestic abuse cases involving Met staff over the past decade that didn’t lead to dismissal. So far, 30 officers are under scrutiny, expected to rise to around 100 as the probe digs deeper.
Operation Dragnet & Trawl Expose Convictions and Links
Operation Dragnet combed through employee records against the Police National Computer, revealing 161 officers with criminal convictions—around 0.5% of the force. Most dated from before joining or from youth, including traffic offences, dishonesty, and violence.
Sir Mark expressed concerns the current national vetting guidance might be too lax, letting potentially unsuitable candidates slip through. He’s pushing for tougher rules barring those with non-trivial convictions from joining the Met.
Meanwhile, Operation Trawl checked 50,000 staff against billions of intelligence records, finding 38 potential misconduct cases and 55 possible criminal links. The review continues with results expected by summer.
Unprecedented Crackdown Demands Extra Resources
The Directorate of Professional Standards faces unprecedented pressure amid a 95% surge in completed investigations. Dismissals have climbed by 70% and officer suspensions have more than doubled to 144.
More cases are being fast-tracked to quickly remove officers when evidence is clear, such as criminal convictions.
Sir Mark said: “This update makes tough reading, but honesty is vital if we are to regain Londoners’ trust. Reform takes time, but progress is steady.”
“We will provide quarterly updates on these efforts. Our aim is to restore the high standards the public expects and deserves.”
