LONDON’s Metropolitan Police failed to carry out proper vetting while recruiting thousands of officers, an internal review has found.
The findings were published as the government announced on Thursday that it would hold an inquiry into the force’s recruitment and vetting practices.
The review found that dozens of officers hired after vetting standards were lowered later committed crimes or misconduct. This included two officers who were later convicted as serial rapists.
The Metropolitan Police said the failures were linked to pressure to meet recruitment targets between 2019 and 2023.
The force has faced several scandals in recent years, including the convictions of serving officers for sexual offences.
A report published in 2023 found the Metropolitan Police was “institutionally” racist, sexist and homophobic.
David Carrick, one of the UK’s worst sex offenders who was jailed for life in 2023, was not properly vetted in 2017. Vetting checks at the time failed to uncover an allegation of domestic abuse against him.
Another officer, Cliff Mitchell, who was later convicted of rape, was allowed to join the force in 2020 after a vetting panel overturned a decision to reject his application. This was despite a previous allegation of raping a child.
The vetting panel, which has since been disbanded, was partly set up to improve diversity. Between 2019 and 2023, the panel overturned rejections of 114 applicants. Of these, 25 per cent later committed misconduct or were accused of a crime.
“The policing inspectorate will carry out an urgent independent inspection into the Metropolitan Police’s recruitment and vetting standards,” the interior ministry said in a statement after the review was published.
“Abandoning vetting checks on officers was a dereliction of the Met’s duty to keep London safe,” interior minister Shabana Mahmood said.
Met Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams said the report was part of the force’s effort to be “open and transparent about past vetting and recruitment practices” that in some cases led to “unsuitable people” joining the force.
(With inputs from agencies)
