MPS launches hotline to report corrupt officers and staff

The MPS Anti-Corruption and Abuse Hotline is believed to be a first of its kind in UK policing.

It has been established to collect information about employees of the MPS who are corrupt and committing serious crimes or causing harm to others.

The MPS said the launch is part of a wider programme led by the Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command to “expose those who have undermined the Met’s integrity, letting Londoners down as well as the decent, honest majority of officers and staff in the Met who want to do a good job”.

The hotline, launched on Tuesday (November 29) will be managed by the independent charity Crimestoppers. Its specially trained staff will answer calls and take information to ensure the anonymity of callers.

Commander James Harman, head of the Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command, said: “There are tens of thousands of people at the Met who work hard to fulfil our duties honestly with integrity. Nothing upsets our good people more than knowing there are officers or staff abusing their powers and letting the public down.

“It is so important that the good majority at the Met can trust their colleagues, and that the public know there are clear systems in place where appalling behaviours will be challenged and addressed robustly.

“We are therefore taking this exceptional step to identify and remove anyone who corrupts our integrity from the Met. We want to reassure the heroic majority within the Met to know that corrupt colleagues will be rooted out, but also for the public to see how seriously we take abuses of power and how determined we are to rebuild trust and confidence in the Met.”

The hotline follows the creation of the Anti-Corruption Command in October, which focuses on rooting out any corrupt and abusive officers and staff, and is part of Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley’s mission for the MPS of ‘more trust, less crime and high standards’.

Crimestoppers will take calls from the public about police officers or staff employed by the MPS regardless of whether the information relates to them while they are on or off duty, online or in person. Calls to the number are free and information can be provided anonymously.

Alternatively, the MPS said people who wish to be kept updated about the information they have provided can opt to leave their details.

In particular, the MPS said it wants to hear about any police officer or member of staff who:

• Trades police information or influence for money or other favours. For example, expects free goods and services, associates with criminals, discloses police information;
• Leverages their police powers for sex or other personal benefits. For example, propositions a person who they have come into contact with through their job, perhaps a victim of crime. Makes contact on social media or in person for reasons other than official business;
• Abuses or controls people close to them. For example, is violent or abusive, physically or emotionally, towards their partner, children or others close to them; and
• Is racist, homophobic or misogynistic, and displays this in behaviour. For example, sends messages on chat groups, makes comments online or acts this way in person.

Information received by Crimestoppers will be passed to a specialist team in the Anti-Corruption and Abuse Command which will assess the information and pass it to specialist detectives to begin an investigation, take steps to safeguard someone at risk or in danger, or record the information to inform future investigations.

Commander Harman, added: “The public can help us by sharing any information they have. We know that trust in us has been impacted and that is why we have asked the independent charity Crimestoppers to manage the hotline.”

He is urging anyone who has information about a MPS police officer or member of staff who is “corrupt or abusing their position and power” to call the hotline so that action can be taken.