By James Simons-
Killer cop, Wayne Couzens, was part of a WhatsApp group with five police officers who are being investigated for gross misconduct.
Officers in the group allegedly shared discriminatory messages , including content that was misogynistic.
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Couzens raped and murdered Sarah Everard while working for the Met, after kidnapping her in a fake arrest.
The force is facing serious questions as to how it missed opportunities to stop Couzens from committing this extremely hideous crime.
Five serving officers and one former officer are under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for allegedly distributing messages between March and October 2019 which were discovered during Ms Everard’s murder investigation.
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Three of them, including the ex-officer, are subject to criminal investigation for offences under Section 127 of the Communications Act, which refers to material that is “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character”.
Three of the serving officers and the ex-officer are from the Metropolitan Police, one is from Norfolk Constabulary, and one serves with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
Couzens, 48, targeted Ms Everard, 33, on a street in south London in March, showing a warrant card and using handcuffs. He has been sentenced to a whole-life prison term.
He had been linked to two previous allegations of indecent exposure.
Policing minister Kit Malthouse said “officers up and down the land recognise the devastating consequences of this event”.
“There is a job to be done to rebuild trust by the police, particularly, I have to say, in London,” he told BBC Breakfast.
He said it was “reasonable” for a woman with doubts about a police officer’s conduct to make “lines of inquiry”, but that “won’t be appropriate in every circumstance” because officers “seeking to keep us all safe every day need to be able to go about their business”.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick faces calls to resign over the force’s handling of the case, as Home Secretary Priti Patel said it raised “serious questions”.
Speaking outside the Old Bailey after Couzens was sentenced, Dame Cressida said “a precious bond of trust has been damaged” and she would ensure “any lessons” were learned.
As part of renewed efforts to ease fears in the capital, the Met will step-up “reassurance patrols” and treat indecent exposure allegations more seriously.
An extra 650 new officers will patrol busy public areas in London.
The force advised people detained by a lone plain-clothes officer to ask “searching questions” such as why they are being stopped, where the officer’s colleagues are and where the officer has come from.
The force said that, to verify the answers, people should ask to speak to an operator on a police radio to determine if the officer is genuine and acting legitimately.
It added that it understood people may be “more distrusting” as a result of the case.
In the event someone believes they are in “real and imminent danger” the Met advised they “must seek assistance – shouting out to a passer-by, running into a house, knocking on a door, waving a bus down or if you are in the position to do so calling 999”.
The Met explained officers are expected to intervene when required, even when off duty, and that they routinely carry warrant cards and sometimes equipment when travelling.
Speaking to the London Assembly, Met Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House, said plain-clothes officers will not be deployed on their own and will be in pairs.
But he warned there would be occasions when that is not possible given off-duty officers not in uniform “put themselves on duty” when they come across an incident.
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