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The latest depressing news of alleged crimes by Met police officers is much worse than previous accusations of brutality at demos and theft through the misuse of credit cards.
If true, the claims that six officers planted evidence and tortured prisoners
indicates that sections of the police are out of control. That officers
might think they could get away with criminal behaviour and human
rights abuses is profoundly shocking and sends out a signal to other
officers that it might be possible to commit all sorts of crime and not
get caught. As a Green party politician on the Police Authority, who
has consistently raised the issues of the Met’s scant regard for Londoners’ civil liberties and human rights,
my heart sinks to new depths at the thought that we might be slipping
back into the bad old days of the 1980s and earlier, with police
fabrication of evidence and the meting out of summary justice.
If
these accusations are substantiated then serious disciplinary action
must be taken against those involved, and a thorough investigation
carried out into how it could have happened. It is also disturbing that
an alleged assault, which happened in November, only came to light as
part of an investigation into alleged corruption.
There are other
cases where accusations against police officers have been dropped with
very little examination. The scale of this emerged recently when Babar Ahmad took the police to court and won £60,000 compensation. Documents submitted to the court showed that four of the officers had 60 allegations of assault
against them, 37 of which were made by black or Asian men. One of the
officers had been accused of 26 separate assaults, 17 of them against
black or Asian men. But when Ahmad’s lawyers asked for details of these
allegations, police said they had "lost" several large mail sacks
detailing at least 30 of the complaints. Scotland Yard said that all
but one of the 77 allegations against the six officers had been found
to be unsubstantiated.
And what has this done to community
relations with ethnic minorities, as well as the rest of London? The
police must be a public protector, ensuring community safety, not an
organisation that uses criminal torture tactics. The best way for the
Met police to preserve its reputation is to take all allegations of
misbehaviour seriously, investigate them properly and deal with any
guilty officers firmly.
The Met has to be a modern highly
professional force, not some appalling Ashes to Ashes remake. I really
don’t envy Paul Stephenson, the commissioner, who has to deal with the
fallout from this, whether or not the claims of corruption and torture
are substantiated. I’m positive he will be absolutely furious at this
further contamination of the Met’s reputation. I hope to see some real
leadership from him in the weeks to come, making it clear that all
crime and corruption by Met officers will be dealt with urgently and
severely.