Every day the police in London are called with 30 unexpected deaths. Of these, however, only two to three per week would be classified as homicides. An investigative report into the Metropolitan Police’s work, released on Thursday night, now suggests that police in the British capital may be missing out on an entire string of murders because deaths are not properly investigated.
The inspectors of the supervisory authority HMICFRS (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) certified that the police authority, also known as Scotland Yard, has still not learned from mistakes that led to the avoidable deaths of three young men in 2014 and 2015.
At the time, a serial killer poisoned four victims with knockout drops and dumped the lifeless bodies near his home in the east London borough of Barking. However, the police initially saw no connection between the deaths. An investigation later found that he could have been convicted after the first murder had the police done their job properly.
It seems likely, if not certain, to me that among the deaths not classified as homicides there are some.
Matt ParrInspector of the supervisory authority HMICFRS
“The Met (Metropolitan Police) has not learned enough from their mistakes of eight years ago and clearly what happened then could happen again,” Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr, who led the investigation, told the PA news agency. Some investigators are said to have openly admitted that they find commonalities between unexplained deaths more by luck than by the rigorous application of standard procedures.
There are about 10,000 unexpected deaths each year. “It seems likely, if not certain, to me that among the deaths not classified as homicide there are some,” Parr said.
Earlier in April, a report was unveiled that gave London police devastating testimony of being institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Violence against women and girls was not taken seriously, and there was widespread bullying, sexism and discrimination in the agency.
Scotland Yard boss Mark Rowley had announced at the time that dozens of police officers could be thrown out of the unit as part of a far-reaching reform of the scandal-plagued London police force. He said in a BBC interview that around 100 police officers would be subject to closer scrutiny and “may have to leave the organisation”.
Report calls Scotland Yard racist, misogynistic and homophobic
To further the reform, Rowley reassigned some 90 officers to the Professional Standards Division, who previously worked in the fight against organized crime and terrorism. This unit has also been augmented by 150 workers, Rowley said. The aim is to “remove the cancer from the body” of the Metropolitan Police as quickly as possible.
The report was commissioned after a police officer kidnapped 33-year-old Londoner Sarah Everard using his ID card in March 2021, then raped and murdered her. Even after that, scandals came to light. In February, an officer was sentenced to decades in prison after nearly 20 years of repeatedly raping a dozen women.
Rowley said he himself was sometimes shocked when looking through personnel lists, such as cases of violence and sex crimes. “We have hundreds of people here who shouldn’t be here,” said the police chief, who took over the agency last year. (dpa)
