MPS must do more to investigate crime and manage offenders and suspects, says HMICFRS

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found the force requires improvement in five areas, was inadequate in two areas and only adequate in one area.

The inspectorate said that the force had improved its response to the public and that the majority of 999 and 101 calls are now answered quickly.

But inspectors found significant issues in the standards of investigations and care for victims, particularly in those offences allocated to local teams.

They said that the force must improve the quality and supervision of its investigations to ensure better outcomes for victims. The management of offenders and suspects was also a “serious concern”, with inconsistencies and delays seen.

“The capital sees a higher level of recorded incidents per 100,000 population, compared with the England and Wales average. Yet the force has an inexperienced workforce, including both investigators and their supervisors,” said HMICFRS. “Continued recruitment challenges are also preventing the force from having the number of officers it needs.”

In June 2022, HMICFRS placed the MPS into its enhanced monitoring stage, Engage. This process helps to provide additional scrutiny and support from across the policing sector to help the force continue to make improvements.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman 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.”

Areas requiring improvement were: preventing and deterring crime and anti-social behaviour, and reducing vulnerability; responding to the public; protecting vulnerable people; building, supporting and protecting the workforce; and leadership and force management.

Although ‘adequate’ for police powers and treating the public fairly and respectfully, inspectors graded the force ‘inadequate’ at investigating crime and managing offenders and suspects.

Commenting on the inspection, Kingsley Napley Criminal Litigation partner Sandra Paul said: “Recruitment and retention of police officers in general has been a worsening problem for several years, and the impact on one police force has now been laid bare.

“Unacceptably long, inadequate or even wrongly-conducted investigations exacerbate an already stressful situation for all of these involved, with victims and suspects feeling the impact most acutely.

“It is vital that those in government who are responsible for policing learn lessons from this inspection and work to ensure this vital component of the criminal justice system operates more effectively.”

Andrea Simon, executive director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: “Today’s report further highlights that the Met has a long way to go to address the significant ways it fails victims, particularly women and girls subjected to male violence.

“In two years, we would have expected to see some meaningful progress made towards eradicating the force’s institutional misogyny and racism, and the ways in which officers systematically minimise forms of male violence including stalking, domestic abuse, sexual offences and online abuse.

“But we are instead presented a picture of a force still failing to equip its officers in safeguarding, assessing risk of violence and harm, supporting victims of abuse sensitively, and carrying out the very basics of investigations.

“Given a huge proportion of incidents reported to the police relate to domestic or sexual abuse, it is clear the vast majority of victims are being let down and failed. This is just not good enough. While we welcome some of the work to improve rape investigations and root out officers who have no place in the force, the pace of change is too slow and too many women and girls are being harmed while progress stalls.

“The police hold a particular position of power and authority over the public and must be held to the very highest standards of accountability. We keep hearing police leaders talk about efforts to ‘rebuild trust and confidence in policing’ but this is the wrong approach. Trust and confidence will come as the result of evidence of an improved service and better treatment of victims.

“We hope today’s report is a wake up call that spurs leaders at all levels in the Met and in police forces across the country to prioritise the transformation needed to deliver justice and accountability for victims of male violence against women and girls.”