Ex-Police Scotland chief Stephen House admits Met problems 'not just few bad apples like Wayne Couzens'

Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Stephen House has admitted that cultural problems in the force are “not a few bad apples”.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article

Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Sir Stephen, who is temporarily leading Britain’s largest police force, said there are efforts to root out unacceptable behaviour “as fast as possible”.

The Met has faced a series of damaging scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, offensive messages exchanged by a team at Charing Cross, and the strip-search of a teenage girl at school while she was menstruating.

Sir Stephen, who previously led Police Scotland, said: “There is a significant campaign within the organisation to deal with this completely unacceptable behaviour, to root it out and to exit those people who are exhibiting that behaviour from the organisation as fast as possible and in the right way.”

Asked if it is “just a few people”, he replied: “People have talked about a few bad apples, quite clearly that’s not the situation at all, it’s not a few bad apples.

“You can’t simply say that Wayne Couzens and a couple of other people have done something wrong – that’s been the spearhead of the problem, I would suggest, but there is a wider issue within the organisation which we acknowledge and we are dealing with.”

Sir Stephen is temporarily leading the Met until a permanent replacement is appointed in the summer, after his predecessor, Dame Cressida Dick, quit her job amid a face-off with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Sarah Everard was killed by Wayne Couzens. Stephen House has acknowledged that the cultural problems of the Met go much further than a few bad individuals.

Police forces in England and Wales are trying to recruit 20,000 officers by next year to replace jobs cut during austerity measures.

Sir Stephen said he is now “less confident” that the Met will meet its targets, with the force needing to attract 40,000 applicants in the next year to replace officers who leave as well as attracting 1,800 new starters.

A strategic review of policing last month suggested that officers should have to hold licences that would be renewed every five years.

Sir Stephen said he would “not be opposed” to a scheme similar to that used for doctors.

But Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, who also gave evidence on Wednesday, stressed that it should not “become a bureaucratic exercise in and of itself”.

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.