New peak of police dismissals show Londoners can regain trust and confidence in the Met – Unmesh Desai AM

New figures showing an increase in dismissals as a result of misconduct hearings show that Londoners can begin the process of regaining trust and confidence in the Metropolitan Police, Unmesh Desai AM has said.

Last year, 113 police officers were dismissed, or would have been dismissed if they had not already left the force, as a result of misconduct or incompetence. This is an increase of 35% from the year before, when 84 rogue officers were fired from the force, showing that more officers are being held to account for their poor behaviour.

The 2023 figure is more than double the amount in 2020, when only 52 officers were terminated as a result of misconduct or incompetence.

Assembly Member Desai has urged the Metropolitan Police to speed up misconduct cases now that the backlog of those waiting to be heard has reached 397, a new peak, up from 355 in October.

He urged the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Mark Rowley, to work through the backlog faster so that Londoners can see the police doing all they can to regain Londoners’ trust and confidence.

Following the Casey Review, which found that the police were institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, funded the police to make the urgent cultural and performance improvements Londoners require. He used his 2024-5 Budget to increase the policing precept following more than £1 billion of real-terms cuts to the police from central Government.

Unmesh Desai, London Assembly Labour spokesperson for policing and crime, said:

“Londoners rightly expect police officers to act with the highest standards of integrity. We have not seen those in recent years – with police officers using their office to perpetrate horrendous crimes.

“Following the Casey review, Londoners are demanding better. We know there is much more to do but these figures show that London’s police force is making progress.

“I urge the Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Mayor Sadiq Khan to make sure Londoners keep on seeing those higher standards which will win our trust and confidence. They can start by addressing the backlog of misconduct cases so that rogue officers are held to account

“Without this, Londoners will not feel confident reporting crimes or helping investigations, meaning more crimes will go unsolved and fewer criminals held to account.”

ENDS

Notes:

• Unmesh Desai is London Assembly Labour Policing and Crime Spokesperson and London Assembly Member for City and East
• Figures for hearings resulting in a dismissal can be found in Question to the Mayor 2024/0670 and are below.

• Figures regarding the backlog of hearings have been gathered from Question to the Mayor 2024/0669 and are below.

 

Information on the Mayor’s funding of the policing precept can be found at Mayor proposes council tax increase due to lack of Government funding for the police, fire and transport services, Mayor’s Press Releases, 19 December 2023

Information on Government cuts to police funding can be found at Mayor earmarks additional £151m to support the Metropolitan Police and keep Londoners safe, Mayor’s Press Releases, 14 February 2024