By Emily Caulkett-
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Helen Millichap has admitted there is “much more to do” to address the level of violence committed by a number of police officers against women.
She was responding to the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) first assessment of police performance on tackling violence against women, following the disturbing statistics revealing the scale of abuse by some demented police officers against women.
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In light of the callous murder of Sarah Everard by former cop Wayne Couzens, now serving a life sentence for murder, addressing violence against women in the police force is more urgent than ever.
The NPCC report shows nationally there were 653 VAWG related internally reported conduct cases against 672 officers or staff. Additionally, there were 524 public complaint cases against 867 individuals.
This equates to 0.7 per cent of the national police workforce employed in March 2022.
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The police force needs to go back and conduct a broader investigation in relation to those complaints, and try to expel more officers guilty of being violent against women. Acknowledging there is more to do simply is not good enough, more needs to be actually done very quickly.
Ms Millichap, the MPS’s lead on VAWG, said: “We welcome this first report by the NPCC that aims to better identify the scale of violence against women and girls.
“We want to make London a safe city for women and girls. Every day we are out tackling violence and abuse and arresting predatory men. We are using the same specialist tactics and technology to identify and bring more offenders to justice as we do for other serious crime. We are working closely with partners and any whose expertise can help to improve the response and support women and girls get.
“We know we have much more to do and we are working hard to improve so that women and girls feel safe, and have confidence in our service to them.
“This must start with us.
“We recognise identifying and bringing to justice those in the Met who corrupt our integrity by committing abuses against women and girls is vital in rebuilding the trust of our communities and increasing reporting.
“We have taken important steps towards this. We have the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Offences (DASO) unit staffed by experienced officers with a background in investigating domestic abuse and sexual violence, who now are using those skills to investigate allegations made against serving officers and staff, and a focus on victim-survivor care
“We have a new Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command, with detectives who are bringing the same investigative approach to identifying wrongdoing in our ranks as we do to identifying organised criminality. “We launched the first ever public appeal line – the Crimestoppers Police Integrity Hotline – to make it easier for the public to report officers of concern, an initiative now planned for rollout nationally.
“We recognise there is far more work to be done to effectively tackle all types of violence against women and girls and to gain trust.”
She added: “In spring we will publish a new and refreshed Met Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Action Plan, which will build on feedback and progress made since our initial plan. We are committed to progressing this work in partnership and by listening.
“If you are a victim-survivor of this type of abuse, including by an alleged police perpetrator, you will be listened to and supported by the Met and specialist support services, with respect and dignity. Allegations will be investigated fully, whoever the suspect.”
The police perpetrated data requested by the NPCC was for new allegations and cases during the period October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.
Of the national data of 1,177 cases involving 1,483 allegations of police perpetrated violence against women and girls the MPS had 241 cases involving 287 allegations for the time period reported on.
“Compared with the period reported by the NPCC where there were 287 allegations against Met officers and staff, in the most recent six months (from September 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023) period we have received 268 new allegations,” said the MPS.
“We are proactively encouraging both the public and Met colleagues to report any concerns about the behaviour of officers and staff through the Crimestoppers run hotline or directly to us.”
MPS data for the same period as the NPCC benchmarking report shows there were 213 VAWG related internally reported conduct cases against 217 individuals. Additionally, there were 28 public complaint cases against 31 individuals. This equates to 0.5 per cent of the MPS workforce (officers and staff) employed in March 2022.
The most recent six months MPS data shows there were 183 VAWG-related internally reported conduct cases against 191 individuals. Additionally, there were 28 public complaint cases against 30 individuals. This equates to 0.5 per cent of the MPS workforce (officers and staff) employed in February 2023.
Separate to the NPCC data collection exercise, the MPS said it has already made public other work to review allegations against officers and staff reported to its Professional Standards Directorate for domestic or sexual incidents over the past decade.
This work, known as Project Onyx, has flagged reports involving close to 1,100 officers and staff. All of these cases and incidents were closed or finalised as they had been assessed or investigated previously. The outcomes for these cases ranged from a final written warning to no further action.
“Whilst we would expect the majority of cases to have been dealt with appropriately, we are keen to ensure that no officers who could have been disciplined, sacked or prosecuted are missed,” said the MPS.
“If we uncover any cases requiring further action then suspension or restrictions will be immediately considered.
“Onyx will also review all measures in place to manage any risk posed by these officers and staff to ensure the measures are robust enough, as well as carrying out vetting checks.”
MPS Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has already made public his intention to release further statistics and updates by the end of this month.
Additionally, there were 28 public complaint cases against 31 individuals. This equates to 0.5 per cent of the MPS workforce (officers and staff) employed in March 2022.
The most recent six months MPS data shows there were 183 VAWG-related internally reported conduct cases against 191 individuals. Additionally, there were 28 public complaint cases against 30 individuals. This equates to 0.5 per cent of the MPS workforce (officers and staff) employed in February 2023.
Separate to the NPCC data collection exercise, the MPS said it has already made public other work to review allegations against officers and staff reported to its Professional Standards Directorate for domestic or sexual incidents over the past decade.
This work, known as Project Onyx, has flagged reports involving close to 1,100 officers and staff. All of these cases and incidents were closed or finalised as they had been assessed or investigated previously. The outcomes for these cases ranged from a final written warning to no further action.
“Whilst we would expect the majority of cases to have been dealt with appropriately, we are keen to ensure that no officers who could have been disciplined, sacked or prosecuted are missed,” said the MPS.
“If we uncover any cases requiring further action then suspension or restrictions will be immediately considered.
“Onyx will also review all measures in place to manage any risk posed by these officers and staff to ensure the measures are robust enough, as well as carrying out vetting checks.”
MPS Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has made public his intention to release further statistics and updates by the end of this month.
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