How many more ‘bad apples’ to fall from the Met Police tree?
The Met Police faces another taint in their reputation as former officer David Carrick pleads guilty to 49 sexual offences, including 24 counts of rape.
By Alia Mcdonald.
David Carrick admitted to being a serial rapist to police on 17th January 2023. The former Metropolitan Police officer detailed on how he would target some of his victims on dating sites, and how he’d abuse his authority as a police officer onto the victims if they didn’t comply with what he wanted from them.
The 48-year-old accumulated his atrocities onto 12 women in the span of nearly 20 years, starting in 2003 and ending in 2020. The crimes came to a halt the following year when he was finally reported by a woman. However, this case alerted the Met Police when nine incidents were reported.
Met Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gray said the pattern of abusive behaviour should have been spotted earlier.
"Because we didn't, we missed opportunities to remove him from the organisation," she said. "We are truly sorry that Carrick was able to continue to use his role as a police officer to prolong the suffering of his victims."
Carrick, who joined the Met in 2001, isolated women socially and financially, and often held them against their will, controlling what they wore and when they slept.
The mother of David Carrick came forward and told the media about the time that her son ‘had a serious allegation’ against him when he was a teenager. Although she did not go into too much detail about it, she referred to their ‘relationship deteriorating’ after the allegation that followed in his teen years.
London's Metropolitan Police was placed in "special measures" last year after it was beset by revelations of a culture of bullying, racial discrimination and misogyny among some of its officers.
"Serious questions must be answered about how he was able to abuse his position as an officer in this horrendous manner," London Mayor Sadiq Khan said.
Carrick will be sentenced in February 2023.
The Met issued an apology on Monday, commending the bravery of the victims for coming forward.
The Met's Gray said work to identify and rid the force of corrupt officers was "determined", "focused" and ongoing.
The Met Police. The biggest police force in England, the ones that protect civilians and serve in society. But do they?
Since the tragic case of Sarah Everard, who was murdered by a police officer, the Met Police published an action plan for tackling violence against women and girls, they employed over 500 new officers in busy places so women would feel more confident and safer. And most importantly Wayne Couzens was sentenced for his crimes.
But how many more action plans are going to be made for the same crimes committed against women, making them lose trust in the police?
How many more men like Wayne Couzens and David Carrick in the Met Police will crawl out of the woodwork, exposing themselves, or will they continue to hide themselves in the soil and carry on with their lives?
How many statements are the Met are going to release for the same pattern that repeats itself? How many more investigations?
While there’s the argument of “it’s not all police officers”, it certainly does feel like it when it’s the same crime, the same type of men who happen to be police officers.
It’s a nauseating pattern that feels never-ending.