Met police failing to effectively deal with risks posed by sex offenders, inspectors say – The Irish News

A report by the police inspectorate has found the Metropolitan Police is not “effectively” managing the risks posed by registered sex offenders and online child abusers.

The report also found that police crime investigations suffered from “inconsistent decision-making” and disputes, with inexperienced officers trying to handle more than 25 crimes at once.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services shared the findings of its 2023-25 ​​inspection programme, which assesses the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of police forces in England and Wales.

Figures were given for police performance in eight areas of policing and the conclusion was that the police were adequate in one area, needed improvement in five areas and fell short in two areas: investigating crime and dealing with offenders and suspects.

In the section ‘dealing with suspects and perpetrators’, the inspectors found a lack of training in both dealing with suspects and perpetrators and in using the register of violent and sex offenders.

In one specific example, a registered high-risk sex offender has not been successfully visited by officers or team members since 2017.

“As such, this individual and the risk he/she poses to the community was not managed,” the report said.

The inspection found that there was ‘no proactive consideration’ to arrest the person or issue an arrest warrant.

More generally, it was found that too many visits to registered sex offenders were announced in advance, potentially allowing the offender to conceal prohibited equipment and thus appear to pose less of a risk.

A performance report provided to inspectors found the Met had a 60% ‘no further action’ rate for investigations into ‘offensive images of children’.

Officers and staff outside the online child sexual abuse and exploitation team did not have access to digital triage, meaning officers were left to ‘guess which devices may have contained potentially offensive images’.

Only two devices can be transferred to the unit at a time, which “increases the likelihood of research opportunities being missed,” the report said.

In the ‘crime investigation’ section, the inspectorate found that the police policy on crime allocation led to ‘inconsistent decision-making within the police and to discussions about who should investigate what’.

There were examples during the inspection of complex crimes being assigned to officers with only “basic investigation training”, while supervisors in investigation teams had little or no training in dealing with the workload of fighting crime, the report said.

The quality of neighbourhood crime investigations was ‘generally poor’ and lines of inquiry were not always identified or followed.

It was also found that the Met does not consistently assist victims in exercising their rights as set out in the Victim Code, and that the Met does not always recognise when a victim is entitled to better services.

One of the inspection’s recommendations was that the Met should immediately review its operating model for the teams responsible for the day-to-day management of registered sex offenders and online child sexual abuse and exploitation.

His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, Lee Freeman, said: “The unique challenges facing the Metropolitan Police cannot be underestimated. Policing the capital places additional pressure on the force and its leadership, as police work tirelessly to manage protests, state and royal visits, and national and international sporting events.

“During my inspection it became apparent that many important changes have been and are being implemented, but these are not yet leading to consistent and sustainable improvements in a number of key areas.

“While I commend the police on the progress they have made in responding promptly to calls from the public, I have serious concerns about the way the police are currently investigating crimes and how they are dealing with offenders and suspects.

“I know that the force had recognised before our inspection that better outcomes for victims needed to be achieved. However, these plans have not yet resulted in consistent improvements across the force, and more work needs to be done to ensure this happens.”