SPEED UP ACTION ON ROGUE COPS, MET WARNED

>> 'DREADFUL DECISIONS STILL BEING MADE BY FORCES'

POLICE are still making "dreadful" decisions about who they let into their ranks, a watchdog said today as it warned that the Met will miss some key targets for purging rogue officers and stopping others joining.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services said that it had uncovered new cases of "you cannot be serious, you are really letting that person in?" during an inspection of police forces, including the Met. It said the examples included a recruit with "a history of allegations of domestic abuse against several partners", another who had faced a criminal charge for dishonesty, and others wrongly given vetting clearance despite having family members jailed for drug dealing in one case and serious sexual offending in another.

Another case involved a person recruiting to a police staff job licensing firearms despite having links to organised crime, which they had sought to conceal. The watchdog added that other "dreadful mistakes" were still occurring over vetting decisions. "Some decisions... we just didn't see how they made them.

You just look at it and think really, still, after all the fuss that’s been made about this,” said Matt Parr, the inspector of constabulary who produced the findings, which were unveiled in a letter to the Home Secretary today.