Last updated on October 31st, 2023 at 07:17 pm
Last updated on October 31st, 2023 at 07:17 pm
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn fact, this troubles me greatly.
THREE years ago 5 Metropolitan Police Officers stopped a motor vehicle containing a couple of athletes. I have previously written about this here and here. The actions of the officers were scrutinised TWICE by officers from Professional Standards and nothing untoward was identified. The then Commissioner, Dame Cressida Dick, even made a public statement supporting the officers.
Not something she would normally have done unless she was convinced that the officers had done no wrong.
The moans and insinuations continued prominently in the Mainstream Media and eventually the Met finds itself referring the whole shebang over to IOPC for them to investigate something that DPS had TWICE judged to be a non-story.
Fast Forward (Fast??) 3 years and the 5 officers today formally entered pleas of Not Guilty to Gross Misconduct matters over a variety of aspects relating to the Stop and Search.
Never mind the quality of the evidence, if any, how on earth has that taken 3 years to get to a Hearing?
Despite what some may think, I’m relatively confident that had the DPS officers seen/heard any evidence whatsoever of the ‘Racial Profiling’ that has been alleged they would have acted on it.
I also heard today, for the first time that the Hearing is due to last until the end of October. How? It can’t be that involved surely? I’ve known Murder Trials be concluded in less time than that.
Finally, I have seen the usual anti-police comments regarding this in the Press, condemning the officers’ actions before the Hearing has even started, and demanding that they be sacked and lose their pensions. I’m pretty certain that their pensions are safe, but this sort of hostility has no positive aspects to it at all. And today, on X Formerly Twitter a former Met Police Officer has clearly prejudged the whole case as well. Somebody in their position should know better than to do that.
I have no idea what the evidence holds and what the Hearing will unearth, but I find the way it has been handled, and the nature of the allegations, to be wholly unfair, unnecessary and unjustified. This troubles me greatly. I can fully understand why Policing cannot retain experienced officers.
Alan, I think you are right. It is quite clear that senior management do not trust there own internal (DPS) officers to do a clean, unbiased investigation. The IOPC on the other hand will be more motivated by the loudest shouting from a minority of vocal external sources. Once they say heating that is it. I don’t believe the officers have done anything other than the job they are there to do. The details of the stop must have satisfied even the then Commissioner. It is very troubling that we have a raft of managers who serm to know little about operationally activity. Not a job I would want these days.