Two serving Met Police officers ‘are still in their jobs despite facing misconduct probe for using prostitutes’
Two serving Metropolitan Police officers are still in their jobs despite being investigated for using prostitutes.
The two officers, who the force is refusing to identify because misconduct complaints have not led to a formal public hearing, are receiving ‘reflective practice and management action’ instead of being fired.
A total of six Met officers have been investigated for using sex workers over the last five years, LBC revealed today.
The four other officers resigned before misconduct proceedings were concluded, but the Met admitted they would have been dismissed had they still been serving.
This is despite Commander James Harman, head of the Met’s Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command, warning about the dangers of police officers using prostitutes.
A total of six Met officers have been investigated for using sex workers over the last five years
‘A police officer who uses sex workers is highly likely to be exploiting a vulnerable person, or funding organised crime, or both,’ he said.
‘The public trust that police officers – on and off duty – do everything they can to protect and defend vulnerable people at risk of exploitation, and to have no part in supporting the violent criminal networks that we know often lie behind sex work.’
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He quoted the Met’s new policy, which states: ‘Any alleged or actual instance of an officer or staff member using sex workers will be referred to the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS) for assessment.
‘Each case will be considered and dealt with on its own particular facts, but in most cases will be treated as a serious breach of misconduct which if proven could lead to dismissal.’
MailOnline has contacted the Met to ask why the two officers accused of using prostitutes have not been made subject to formal misconduct proceedings.
Phill Matthews, former chair of the Police Federation’s Conduct and Performance Committee, warned that police officers using prostitutes could be vulnerable to ‘coercion, extortion, corruption [or] influence from organised criminal groups’.
In May, the Mail revealed how a high-ranking Scotland Yard officer was allowed to keep his job despite being found to be a regular user of prostitutes.
Sir Mark Rowley – seen in Croydon last month – has called for more power to sack hundreds of officers who are not fit to serve
The middle-aged man, who commands a salary package of more than £100,000 a year, was given a minor rebuke when colleagues in the Met’s Professional Standards unit discovered his secret.
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The softly-softly handling of the case was in sharp contrast to the treatment of junior officers, who are frequently sacked for gross misconduct if they are found to be paying for sex.
It came weeks after a withering report revealed the Met to be ‘broken’ and its ‘rotten’ ranks riven with racism, misogyny and homophobia.
The review by Baroness Louise Casey prompted Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley to call for more power to sack hundreds of officers who are not fit to serve.
He said it was ‘nonsensical’ that he was unable to remove staff who conducted themselves inappropriately at work and repeated his plea to Home Secretary Suella Braverman to amend this.
Last month it emerged that 1,000 Met Police officers are currently suspended or on restricted duties.
About 60 officers could face the sack each month over at least the next two years, with about 30 facing misconduct proceedings and 30 gross incompetence hearings, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy told journalists.
A series of reviews have been carried out including of officers who have faced previous allegations of domestic or sexual violence, as well as sweeps of the police national computer and database for concerning information.
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