Met Police removed from special measures by watchdog after ‘good progress’
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The Metropolitan Police has dramatically been taken out of special measures - two-and-a-half years after a slew of scandals and “persistent concerns” about its performance were exposed, a watchdog announced. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary acted in June 2022 following Sarah Everard’s murder by a serving officer and failures in an investigation into serial killer Stephen Port resulted in a “chilling effect” on public confidence. Systemic problems included a failure to log 69,000 crimes.
The turnaround under Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley is remarkable given that in August last year HM Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman graded the force “inadequate” or “requires improvement” across seven out of eight areas, including managing the risks posed by registered sex offenders and online child abusers.
On Thursday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark said exit from the watchdog’s enhanced monitoring process called Engage is “welcome recognition that we are on the right path to deliver on our promise to Londoners”. Over 100 recommendations have been addressed. Improvements are recognised in areas including call handling, child exploitation, public protection, culture and counter-corruption.
Sir Mark added: “The progress we have made over the last two-and-a-half years would not have been possible without the unwavering passion, sense of duty, courage and hard work of our officers and staff in the face of some incredibly challenging circumstances.
