Sadiq Khan threatens scandal-hit Met Police to clean up its act

London Mayor Sadiq Khan threatens scandal-hit Met Police to clean up its act or face being broken up – as he warns ‘nothing is off the table’

  • Ā Mr Khan said a London PolicingĀ Board wouldĀ ‘oversee and scrutinise’ the review

Sadiq KhanĀ has threatened theĀ Met PoliceĀ 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’.Ā 

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 inĀ 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 thatĀ a London Policing Board would be set up to ‘oversee and scrutinise’ the force’s review ofĀ 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.’Ā 

TheĀ Casey Review led byĀ 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.Ā 

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.Ā 

‘I think he’s right, by the way. You don’t [change a] system of cultures overnight.Ā 

‘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.Ā 

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 saidĀ 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.

READ MORE:Ā More than 1,000 Met Police officers are suspended or on restricted duties with 60 a month facing the sack for wrongdoing as bosses try to cull bad apples in wake of scandalsĀ 

Earlier this week, aĀ 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.

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