At least 26 colleagues of murderer Wayne Couzens in the Met Police have been found guilty of sex crimes since just 2016.
The offences that the other officers committed range from rape to possessing indecent images of children.
The statistic was uncovered in an investigation by The Sunday Mirror , increasing pressure on Met Commissioner Cressida Dick to resign, with calls for serious and radical change to the Met police force to end a culture of misogyny.
READ MORE: Police boss slammed for saying Sarah Everard ‘should never have submitted’ to arrest by killer PC
As well as the 26 offenders since 2016, five Met officers have carried out sex offences while on duty since 2010.
One officer was even hired last year despite having a previous conviction for indecent exposure.
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Labour MP Harriet Harman told The Sunday Mirror : “Women’s confidence in the police has been shattered.”
These revelations come just days after Wayne Couzens, 48, was sentenced for the kidnap, rape, and murder of Sarah Everard, 33, while she was walking home.
Couzens, who was a serving Met Police officer at the time of his crimes, will die in prison as he was given a rare whole-life term sentence.
But in the wake of Couzens’ sentencing, the Met Police as an organisation has come under scrutiny for its handling of misogyny within the force.
As well as the 26 sex offenders in the force since 2016, 150 current serving officers in the Met have convictions for other offences ranging from assault to drugs.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick is under increasing pressure to resign
(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
Another high-ranking female former officer has also spoken out about the issues within the Met.
Former Det Supt Paige Kimberley has told of how just days after Sarah Everard’s murder she flagged to the Commissioner a WhatsApp group where male officers were sending pornographic images and offensive remarks.
But after an investigation, a panel found the contents of the group chat to be ‘distasteful’ but not amounting to misconduct.
Couzens and his colleagues are believed to have had a similar WhatsApp group in the run-up to his crimes.
Among the 26 officers is Det Con Mark Collins, 58, who was jailed for 26 months this April for sending ‘highly sexualised’ messages to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl that was actually an undercover officer.
Det Con Paul Allgood, 60, was also jailed in April for 22 months for three counts of possessing indecent images of children and three counts of outraging public decency.
The evidence was obtained through a Freedom of Information request and shows the scale of the rot within the Met, with politicians and ex-officers calling for change.
Harriet Harman, Labour MP and chair of the Human Rights Committee, said: “Cressida Dick must resign. It’s not about ‘heads must roll’ – it’s about making sure that change happens.”
Ex-detective Maggie Oliver, Rochdale child abuse whistleblower and head of the Maggie Oliver Foundation, which fights against child sexual abuse, said: “The police service is no longer fit for purpose. I don’t think it’s ever appropriate for a force to employ an officer with a criminal record. It’s just something that should not happen.
“My criticism goes to the top. Many forces are being led by men completely out of touch with the world of today and the public they serve.”
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