London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jan 27, 2026

Met officer faced 11 misconduct allegations

Met officer faced 11 misconduct allegations

The case of a Metropolitan Police officer who avoided dismissal despite facing 11 separate allegations of wrongdoing is just one of the findings highlighted in a report detailing serious misconduct within the force.

The unnamed officer faced multiple allegations of harassment, assault and fraud, and continued to serve on the force after being arrested over a "sexual offence".

Here's a look at some of the key finding's of Baroness Louise Casey's damning interim review:


Ethnic minorities more likely to have complaints against them upheld


Data collected by Baroness Casey's team found that officers from ethnic minority backgrounds were significantly more likely to have complaints against them upheld than their white counterparts.

*  Black police officers were 81% more likely

*  Asian officers were 55% more likely

*  And mixed-race officers were 41% more likely

The report stressed that officers from ethnic minority backgrounds were generally unlikely to receive more misconduct allegations, and warned that the trend suggested "clear evidence of systemic bias".

Investigators did observe that the disparity has been falling steadily since 2018-19, but suggested the trend could partially be attributed to a large number of complaints yet to be ruled on.


Sexual misconduct complaints rarely upheld


Among the most troubling revelations in the report was that allegations of sexual misconduct against officers are extremely unlikely to be upheld when compared to other complaints.

The investigation found that just 29% of reports result in a "case to answer" - the stage after which the officer would face a formal hearing into the complaint.

Investigators said the perceived reluctance to take action against sexual offenders had led to a belief within the force that "discriminatory behaviour is in fact not a breach of professional standards" and has created a culture of "anything goes" among some staff.

One officer reported being told by a colleague that "if you fell asleep on a night shift then you couldn't claim that there was no consent to unwanted sexual touching".

Another said they had heard other officers "passing on sexualised comments" when dealing with members of the public, fellow staff and victims of crime.


Repeat offenders fly under the radar


According to the report, repeat offenders have been able to escape disciplinary action due to the force's reporting process.

*  Some 1,809 officers - or 20% of all those facing allegations - had more than one complaint raised against them

*  More than 500 officers and staff have faced between three to five different misconduct cases since 2013

*  But Baroness Casey's team said that less than 1% of those facing multiple allegations had been dismissed from the force.

In one case, an officer continued to serve after facing management action over accusations of corruption, traffic offences and "failure to safeguard while off duty".

The report found that the Met's reporting process - which limits superior officers to dealing with complaints individually - prevented "repeated or escalating misconduct" being spotted by investigators.

One senior officer observed that he had been stopped from grouping separate allegations of racist and misogynistic behaviour by one offender together. He observed that each allegation filed separately "won't be quite enough, but if they took it all together it would".


Investigations take far too long


The report also found that once reports are raised with police, the internal investigation can take over a year to complete.

*  On average, the Met's investigations take 400 days to conclude

*  Almost 20% of cases take over two years to resolve

*  In some extreme cases - around 2% of those reported - inquiries can remain ongoing for more than four years

One officer told Baroness Casey that the force takes "forever" to handle complaints and warned that too often "they just keep people hanging on and hanging on".

The report observed that the impact of the delays has a detrimental impact on both the public and the police force, with line managers reporting "serious drains on team capacity" as investigations drag on and officers are side-lined.


Reporting wrongdoing 'totally pointless'


Overall, investigators reported an overwhelming sense of helplessness among officers, with most believing that no action would be taken where concerns about conduct were raised.

Between 55%-60% of complaints made by Met officers and staff against colleagues resulted in a "no case to answer" decision - well above the national average of 46%.

And the report found that where officers are found to have engaged in "gross misconduct," dismissals have steadily fallen since 2016. Some senior officers claimed that they had been told staff could not be removed for gross misconduct unless they were convicted of a criminal offence.

*  One chief inspector alleged that officers "are being talked out of" reporting grievances by supervisors, while another described the complaints process as a "harrowing and totally pointless exercise"

*  Others senior officers complained the threshold for dismissal is far too high, with one observing: "If we worked for Tesco we'd be able to sack someone for less"

*  While another warned the force was "losing good staff because they say, "how am I sitting next to a guy who bullied me or exposed himself?"

Public 'deserves a better Met'


The Met commissioner accepted that the report showed the force had let down "both the public and our honest and dedicated officers".

While acknowledging that there "will be even more challenges to come," Sir Mark Rowley pledged to implement some immediate reforms, including:

*  Ensuring a new anti-corruption and abuse command will be properly equipped and supported to tackle misconduct

*  Revaluating existing data to identify and root out officers "who pose a risk"

*  Setting out new standards of behaviour and outlining a "clear direction in declaration of standards

He also pledged to work with the home secretary in seeking regulatory reform, which he said could include new powers allowing the force to have the final say on dismissals of officers.

The commissioner said he was "appalled" by the report, and accepted that the force had been "undermined by corrupting behaviours that have gone unchallenged and been allowed to multiply".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
Hot Drinks, Hidden Particles: How Disposable Cups Quietly Increase Microplastic Exposure
UK Banks Pledge £11 Billion Lending Package to Help Firms Expand Overseas
Suella Braverman Defects to Reform UK, Accusing Conservatives of Betrayal on Core Policies
Melania Trump Documentary Sees Limited Box Office Traction in UK Cinemas
Meta and EssilorLuxottica Ray-Ban Smart Glasses and the Non-Consensual Public Recording Economy
WhatsApp Develops New Meta AI Features to Enhance User Control
Germany Considers Gold Reserves Amidst Rising Tensions with the U.S.
Michael Schumacher Shows Significant Improvement in Health Status
Greenland’s NATO Stress Test: Coercion, Credibility, and the New Arctic Bargaining Game
Diego Garcia and the Chagos Dispute: When Decolonization Collides With Alliance Power
Trump Claims “Total” U.S. Access to Greenland as NATO Weighs Arctic Basing Rights and Deterrence
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
OpenAI’s Money Problem: Explosive Growth, Even Faster Costs, and a Race to Stay Ahead
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
TikTok’s U.S. Escape Plan: National Security Firewall or Political Theater With a Price Tag?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
Will AI Finally Make Blue-Collar Workers Rich—or Is This Just Elite Tech Spin?
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
×