The number of police officers who have faced hearings due to misconduct or incompetence has doubled since 2016, according to official data from City Hall.
The job: record numbers of police officers in London have faced misconduct hearings
In total, 163 officers faced hearings in 2023, 153 of whom were facing allegations of gross misconduct.
Only 79 hearings were held in 2015, the final year in which London’s police force was under the direction of former Mayor, Boris Johnson.
The increase in misconduct hearings comes as MOPAC, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, has strengthened vetting standards, including re-vetting all officers in 2023.
According to Unmesh Desai, Labour’s London Assembly policing spokesperson, the figures “demonstrate that Londoners can begin to place trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police”. Which is one way of looking at it…
Desai has also urged the Metropolitan Police to speed up misconduct hearings in order to reduce the backlog of cases waiting to be heard, which reached 397 earlier this year, a new peak.
Following the Casey Review in 2023, which found that the police were institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, funded the police to make the urgent cultural and performance improvements, including raising behaviour standards of officers.
“The fact that more police are being held to account should be welcomed,” Desai said today.
Misconduct count: the trend for the number of misconduct hearings is rising, according to City Hall figures
“This is vital if we are to rebuild trust and confidence after Londoners have seen officers lack the high standards expected of our police.
“While there is still more to do, I am pleased that Londoners can see the Metropolitan Police taking the steps they need to improve.
“I applaud the Mayor for giving the police the tools they need to rebuild their integrity following the Casey Review, but urge the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to address the backlog of misconduct cases still outstanding. Without this, Londoners will not feel confident reporting crimes or helping investigations, meaning more crimes will go unsolved and fewer criminals will be caught.”
Read more: Community groups demand dismissal of convicted Met officer
Read more: After five-week delay, police issue appeal over bus stabbing
Read more: Constable is charged with sexual assault on Sutton cadet
Read more: Croydon in 2023: London’s borough with most murder victims
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
