Met 'failing in key areas' of crime fighting

The UK's biggest police force is providing an inadequate or failing service in seven of eight key crime fighting areas, and there are "serious concerns" about its management of dangerous offenders, according to an official inspection.

- Vikram Dodd

The report into the Met police was described as "devastating" by one Whitehall source. In one startling finding, the report found that in several areas of London, the force was warning sex offenders they were going to be visited, rather than conducting spot checks.

The Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, took office almost two years ago, vowing sweeping reforms. The report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) backed the aims of Rowley's plans, but said the public were not seeing enough improvements.

It said that among the Met's "chief inspectors, inspectors and sergeant levels" there was "limited knowledge and understanding of the plan". The Met has been in special measures since June 2022, and looks likely to remain so.

In 2022, HMICFRS found the Met good in just one area, adequate in two, substandard in five and inadequate in one. The way inspections have since been carried out has changed, and some police chiefs complain the examinations are tougher.

The report found the Met was rated inadequate or failing in two areas, crime investigations and managing offenders. Both aspects have worsened in the view of inspectors.

The Met is now half as likely as other forces to solve a victim-based crime, the report says.