Inside another nightmare week for the Met Police, with the leadership in turmoil and officers wanting to quit
Demoralised Metropolitan Police officers are considering quitting in the midst of yet another nightmare week for the force.
This week, the Met has been forced apologise after a number of files relating to the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan were found after several years inside a locked cabinet at New Scotland Yard as well as express “regret” over the arrest of six anti-monarchy protesters at the King’s coronation.
It later emerged a royal superfan stood next to Just Stop Oil protesters had been among the 64 people arrested on coronation day amid a barrage of criticism over how new anti-protest laws had been used to target members of the crowd.
The latest issues embroiling the UK’s biggest police force come just months after it was revealed it was investigating claims of sexual misconduct by 800 serving officers, following the convictions of serial rapist David Carrick and Sarah Everard‘s killer Wayne Couzens, who both remained in the force despite committing a string of sexual offences.
One insider told i the feeling among rank-and-file officers was that the force’s leadership has lost control amid successive crises and further damaged the public’s confidence in policing.
The Met officer, who did not wish to be named, said: “No-one knows if the leadership know what they’re doing, quite frankly.”
At the start of the year, Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, warned more “painful” stories will emerge as the force works to root out rogue officers.
On Thursday, two Met Officers were dismissed without notice for punching and kicking a 14-year-old boy during his arrest and lying about the incident in statements they made immediately afterwards.
‘Officers have had enough’
Reflecting on the series of scandals, the officer who spoke to i on condition of anonymity said: “It’s demoralising,” adding that they had been in touch with colleagues who have “had enough” and were considering quitting.
Arrests of activists from Republic who had been in communication with the Met’s protest liaison team in the lead up to the coronation and the Met’s admission that it was “not clear at the time” that the group had been engaging with police relating to the protest, appears to support the claims around the disconnect between the ranks.
Jamie Klingler, co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, questioned the point of the protest liaison teams if they weren’t out on the streets.
Ms Klingler said: “Our case should have been used as precedent when they were training police this weekend but they were so busy blowing their own horns about how amazing they were this weekend while they were stomping on people’s human rights.”
Similarly, members of Westminster City Council’s night safety volunteers team who work in partnership with the Met were arrested by its officers for handing out rape alarms in Soho at around 2am on Saturday.
The officer who spoke to i described the Met’s defence that officers had carried out arrests in relation to intelligence protesters planned to use the devices to disrupt the coronation as “hogwash”.
“It shows the nature of the leadership at the moment,” they added.
The Met has expressed “regret” over the arrests of the six Republic group members. But it has rejected calls to issue an apology to the Night Stars volunteers, Westminster City Council leader, Adam Hug, said.
Asked why Met officers would have arrested protesters who had not done anything wrong, the officer said individuals in the senior leadership team in the SOR (Strategic Operation Room) would be reviewing live CCTV footage and then “make a decision and say, ‘I want them nicked’”.
“Those PCs have not made the decision themselves,” the officer added.
They also pointed to a lack of cohesion between the Met’s press office, legal department and senior officers.
“That’s why you’re getting this seriously disjointed attempt to try and explain away a rather unfortunate incident and mishandling.”
Met accused of ‘stomping’ on people’s human rights
Not only has the backlash around the arrests knocked the resolve of some officers, it has also further damaged public confidence and concerned politicians.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who has written to Sir Mark requesting urgent information on the arrest of the six members of Republic and the Night Stars volunteers, has called for the circumstances to be subject to a review.
Anti-monarchy protesters who were arrested but will face no further action are considering taking legal action against the Met over their detention.
Ms Klingler, who won a landmark legal case against the Met over its handling of the Reclaim These Streets planned vigil for Sarah Everard, said: “Our case should have been used as precedent when they were training police this weekend but they were so busy blowing their own horns about how amazing they were this weekend while they were stomping on people’s human rights.”
“Watching people that had four months of meetings with the police get arrested was so triggering,” she added. “We proactively approached the police to have a safe moment of silence for Sarah, and the thanks you get for doing it right and playing within the rules and proactively reaching out to them is, you get treated worse. And that’s what happened with Republic and it was really, really upsetting and really scary.”
In addition to seeking clarification on the coronation arrests, Mr Khan has said there must be no repeat of such important files being misplaced as per the Morgan case.
A spokesperson for the mayor said: “This was clearly unacceptable and should never have happened.”
The anonymous Met officer questioned how the Met could expect people to believe the circumstances around the discovery of relevant to the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel in a locked filing cabinet that had not been used for years.
“It makes no sense,” they said.
Journalist and co-founder of Byline Times, Peter Jukes, who is also behind the podcast Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder, said he was “not surprised” by disclosure that files relating to his case had been lost inside a locked cabinet.
He also expressed doubt over the Scotland Yard’s insistence that it remains possible that Mr Morgan’s killer or killers could be brought to justice.
“They could always argue, the accused, that they’re not getting a full and fair disclosure,” Mr Jukes said, adding, “the [Morgan] family have accepted there will never be criminal justice.”
Commenting on the leadership issues within the Met, he said: “I do think that every Met commissioner who comes in and every assistant commissioner is managing, not crime, but crime within its own organisation or the problem within its own organisation. It’s very difficult to see how it can be effective police enforce when it’s having to police itself.”
Mr Jukes added: “There’s a consistent pattern and [the Met] can be highly incompetent and fail investigations when it suits them but then overreact and overzealous when it comes to the Night Stars.”
In a statement published in the aftermath of the coronation policing operation, Sir Mark said: “We are committed to sharing all of the information we can with the public to reassure people about our policing tactics. However, it is frustrating that there are things we are unable to share and investigations are ongoing.”
