His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has outlined that it has concerns around how the Metropolitan Police is investigating crime, as well as how it is managing offenders and suspects.
Coming as part of its PEEL (police effectiveness, efficiency, and legitimacy) report into the Metropolitan Police, the inspectorate has stated that the force has improved its public response, however, this wasn’t enough to stop the inspectorate from grading the ‘Met’ as adequate in only one area. Two areas of the force’s policing were found to be inadequate, whilst a further five required improvement.
The force was graded on the following eight areas:
- Police Powers and treating the public fairly and respectfully - Adequate
- Preventing and deterring crime and antisocial behaviour, and reducing vulnerability – Requires Improvement
- Responding to the public – Requires Improvement
- Investigating crime - Inadequate
- Protecting vulnerable people – Requires Improvement
- Managing offenders and suspects - Inadequate
- Building, supporting and protecting the workforce – Requires Improvement
- Leadership and force management – Requires Improvement
One of the main areas of concern for the inspectorate was the standard of investigations, as well as its care for victims of crime. This mainly comes down to offences that are being allocated to local teams, with the quality and supervision of investigations needing to be improved to ensure that victims get better outcomes.
The way that the force manages offenders and suspects was another area of serious concern in the report, with the inspectorate finding inconsistencies and delays.
Lee Freeman, His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, said:
“The unique challenges facing the Metropolitan Police are not underestimated. Policing the capital city places additional strain on the force and its leadership, as the force tirelessly manages protests, state visits and royal occasions, and national and international sporting events.
“In parallel, the force is in the midst of an organisational-wide transformation, which is significant in both its size and scale. While it was evident in my inspection that many key changes have and are being made, they are not yet translating into consistent and sustained improvements in some key areas.
“While I commend the force for the progress it has made in answering the public’s calls quickly, I have serious concerns about how the force is currently investigating crime and how it manages offenders and suspects.
“I am aware that before our inspection, the force had already recognised the need to achieve better outcomes for victims. However, these plans have not yet led to consistent improvements across the whole force, and more work needs to be done to make sure that this happens.
“We will continue to monitor the Metropolitan Police under our Engage process, and I look forward to seeing the further progress made.”
In response to the report, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan released the following statement on his X.com (formerly Twitter) account:
“Londoners should rightly expect to have the best possible police service and I'm determined to do everything in my power to make policing in London better.
“The New Met for London Plan has set the Met on the right path, and while we have seen progress including improvements in call handling and new approaches to target the most harmful offenders, this welcome HMICFRS report makes it clear that there is still much more to be done.
“I will continue to support and challenge the Commissioner to address the shortcomings and deliver the progress that is required to ensure that the Met commands the trust and confidence of all Londoners, as we build a safer London for everyone.”
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