Scotland Yard savaged as watchdog report raises 'serious concerns'

Scotland Yard gets savaged as watchdog report raises ‘serious concerns’ including failure to log 69,000 offences a year

  • The police watchdog raised ‘serious concerns’ about the Met’s performance
  • Delays in logging crimes was leading to delays in rape investigations, report said
  • Shoddy investigations by inexperienced detectives let criminals off the hook

Britain’s biggest police force is failing to record thousands of crimes of stalking, domestic abuse and anti-social behaviour – responding to just one in 21 calls in some areas.

The police watchdog raised ‘serious concerns’ about the Metropolitan Police’s performance after the force failed in six out of nine areas of work, with the blunders resulting in offenders evading justice.

Just days after Sir Mark Rowley took over as Commissioner, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has demanded that Scotland Yard make urgent improvements.

Britain’s King Charles III, joined by Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, arrives to meet emergency service workers at Lambeth HQ on September 17, 2022

The report found that more than 69,100 offences a year were going unrecorded, with victims of domestic violence or those suffering long-term abuse such as stalking, controlling and coercive behaviour or harassment being ignored.

Not all reports of rape were correctly recorded and in some cases it was taking more than three days for crimes to be logged – leading to delays in rape investigations and victims receiving support.

Inspectors believe the force turns a blind eye to many incidents of anti-social behaviour, with just one out of the 21 calls from victims leading to a crime being logged.

The force, which was put into special measures three months ago, was labelled ‘inadequate’ in the way it responds to the public, with call handlers unable to answer 999 calls quickly enough, and failures to identify vulnerable or repeat victims.

It also missed ‘opportunities to preserve evidence which may help investigations’.

A watchdog has raised ‘serious concerns’ about the performance of the Metropolitan Police after it found the force was ‘failing’ in several areas of its work

Shoddy investigations by inexperienced detectives also let criminals off the hook, the inspectors found.

Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr warned: ‘Until the force improves how it responds to incidents and increases the capability and supervision of its investigators, it will not be able to sustainably reduce crime.’

Dame Lynne Owens, Met Deputy Commissioner, said: ‘We want to remove as many hurdles as possible to make it easier for hardworking officers to fight crime, deliver justice and support victims.’

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