Is Sarah Everard’s killer just “a bad apple” in the British police force? Numbers speak a different language. Top officials announce investigations and reforms. But does that help?
London – My cop, a murderer? The high-profile murder case Sarah Everard aroused fears in many people in Great Britain and shattered confidence in the police.
A London police officer misused his office and equipment to kidnap, rape and kill 33-year-old Everard. It is a special case. But weakening comments about a “bad apple” in the system seem to fall short of the mark, as statements by former top officials and figures on internal investigations now show. The Bobby, the friendly nickname of the British police, is in a crisis.
Toxic atmosphere in the police force
As the newspaper “i” reported on Friday, there have been allegations of sexual misconduct against more than 750 employees of the Met Police, the London police force, over the past eleven years. 83 had been released. 163 Met officials were arrested for sex offenses, 38 were convicted. And these are just the numbers for the capital.
Former top executives speak of a corrupt culture within the agency. The Met Police was “very sexist and misogynist,” said former chief inspector Parm Sandhu of the BBC. “Many women will not report their colleagues.” Because they would have to fear that they would then be let down by other male colleagues in an emergency, says Sandhu.
Misogyny behavior
Everard’s killer was sentenced to the maximum sentence on Thursday and will never be released from prison. In fact, he could or should have been noticed earlier, as reported by several British media. Advertisements for causing public nuisance were not consistently pursued. According to the “Times”, five colleagues spread sexist, homophobic and racist messages in chats with the family man. Even more frightening: The 48-year-old was apparently known among colleagues under the nickname “the rapist” – “the rapist”. The reason was his intrusive behavior towards women, according to the “Sun”.
“This is something that must be investigated and understood as part of our teaching about this terrible incident,” said Secretary of State Kit Malthouse of the BBC. It should also be examined why some incidents were not known when the man was hired in 2018.
Because the perpetrator pretended to be a civil servant, uniformed police officers are said to only be on two patrols. In order to reassure the population, control calls are to be allowed in the future to verify the identity of an officer at the headquarters. More tips from the Met, which wants to use 650 additional officers in public places: stop a bus or passers-by, knock on doors or dial the emergency number. “It’s a very, very difficult time for thousands and thousands of cops out there who have to work harder – much harder – to gain public trust,” said Malthouse.
Criticism of the police chief
The London police have not only been under pressure since the Everard case. Two recent examples: officials took selfies with the bodies of two murdered women in a park – and sent the photos. And one woman was fined for abusing “precious police work” by calling five times to report abuse – she was later killed by the man she tried to report. Recently there was anger and horror that less than 200 days after the murder of Sarah Everard, another young woman was murdered in London.
The focus is now once again on London’s chief of police, Cressida Dick, whose contract was recently extended by two years. The “Politico” online portal was almost relish to recall scandals in which Dick was involved. She led the anti-terrorist operation in which an innocent Brazilian was accidentally killed in the London “Tube” in 2005. She also led a child molestation investigation based on false allegations by a witness that discredited hundreds of innocent people.
The number of fatal knife attacks in London has now risen to its highest level in 13 years, with only one suspect being charged for every twentieth rape. So far, however, Interior Minister Priti Patel has stuck to Dick, as have Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Keir Starmer. dpa
