Sadiq Khan has threatened the Met Police to clean up its act or face being broken up, as the London Mayor prepares to launch a London Policing Board to help the force ‘get its act together’.
Mr Khan expects the country’s biggest police force to clean up its act within three years, in the wake of a series of scandals including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer and PC David Carrick being unmasked as a serial rapist.
The London Mayor also said that introduction of a London Policing Board would be instrumental in helping the Met ‘get its act together’ and warned that ‘nothing is off the table’ after he did not rule out breaking up the force.
He added that a London Policing Board would be set up to ‘oversee and scrutinise’ the force’s review of culture and standards.
Mr Khan told Times Radio: ‘I think, to paraphrase Dame Louise Casey who I agree with, we need to try and see if this works. And if it doesn’t work nothing is off the table.’
The Casey Review led by Baroness Louise Casey, published in March, found the force to be institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic.
Baroness Casey came to the damning conclusion that it was ‘time to clean up the Met’ because of a ‘rot’ at its heart that allowed racism to go unchallenged and predatory behaviour to ‘flourish’.
The new London Policing Board will be set up to follow the recommendations that were set out in the review of the culture and standards by Baroness Louise Casey.
When asked if he would consider breaking up the force into smaller independent organisations, Mr Khan said: ‘Sir Mark himself has had the humility and candour to say, look, he needs around two or three years to turn things around.
‘I think he’s right, by the way. You don’t [change a] system of cultures overnight.
‘I want a critical part of my mayoralty to be about the reform of the police service, it’s incredibly important.
‘The way we’ve always done stuff isn’t working. And that’s what the police board is seeking to address as well.’
Stuart Lawrence, the brother of 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence who was killed by racists at the age in 1993, will be a member of the board overseeing the force’s culture and standards.
Sadiq Khan has threatened the Met Police to clean up its act or face being broken up
The new London Policing Board will be set up to follow the recommendations that were set out in the review of the culture and standards by Baroness Louise Casey
The London Mayor said that introduction of a London Policing Board would be instrumental in helping the Met ‘get its act together’ and warned that ‘nothing is off the table’
Mr Khan expects the country’s biggest police force to clean up its act within three years, in the wake of a series of scandals including the murder of Sarah Everard
In August, the Mayor of London backed calls for Scotland Yard’s commissioner to be given the power to sack police officers who are unfit to serve
Mr Khan said that a London Policing Board would be set up to ‘oversee and scrutinise’ the force’s review of culture and standards
Retired Met officer, and on of Britain’s most senior non-white officers, Neil Basu, will also be joining the London Policing Board.
Mr Khan has said the board’s members have ‘an extraordinary range of professional skills and lived experience they can draw on to make a positive difference’.
Other members include Sir John Aston, Tijs Broeke, Nick Campsie, Carolyn Downs, Sayce Holmes-Lewis, Susan Lea, Paula McDonald, Nicola Rollock, Andrea Simon and Leslie Thomas KC.
A spokesperson for the mayor of London told MailOnline: ‘Both the Mayor and the Met Police Commissioner have been clear they are determined to see real and meaningful change within the Met over the next few years.
‘Sadiq is absolutely committed to the best way forward being a reformed Met. There is already clear and positive evidence of a big shift happening with a thousand officers under investigation and the new policing board in place with a genuinely independent and robust membership including Neil Basu, Stuart Lawrence and others.
‘But there is still more work to do and the Mayor will continue to hold the Met to account on delivering the real changes Londoners urgently need.’
Earlier this week, a Metropolitan Police officer, who has only been identified as NX121 after an anonymity order was granted, will face trial in September next year after they were charged with the murder of Chris Kaba.
24-year-old Mr Kaba died when he was shot through the windscreen of a car in Streatham Hill, south-east London, on September 6 last year.
There are already about 1,000 Met Police officers that are currently suspended or on restricted duties, but it will take a lot longer to clean-up the force following a series of disturbing scandals.
About 60 officers could face the sack each month over at least the next two years, with about 30 facing misconduct proceedings and 30 gross incompetence hearings, he told journalists.
A series of reviews have been carried out including of officers who have faced previous allegations of domestic or sexual violence, as well as sweeps of the police national computer and database for concerning information.
In August, the Mayor of London backed calls for Scotland Yard’s commissioner to be given the power to sack police officers who are unfit to serve.
Sir Mark Rowley, who leads Britain’s biggest police force, called on ministers to urgently push through legislation that would give chiefs dismissal powers instead of independent lawyers – who he referred to as ‘fundamentally soft.’
Sadiq Khan described his comments as an ‘important intervention,’ adding: ‘A vital part of police reform is making it easier to root out and sack corrupt officers.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12551489/London-Mayor-Sadiq-Khan-Met-Police.html
