The Metropolitan Police is underperforming in almost all areas, according to a report highlighting a failure to “effectively” manage risks posed by sex offenders and online child abusers.
The police inspectorate graded the force‘s performance across eight areas of policing and found the force adequate in one area, requiring improvement in five and inadequate in two.
Inexperienced officers try to manage more than 25 crimes at once, the report adds, with crime investigations suffering from “inconsistent decision-making” as a result.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services shared the findings from its 2023-25 inspection programme, which assesses the effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy of police forces in England and Wales.
“Policing the capital city places additional strain on the force and its leadership,” said HM Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman, while acknowledging “key changes” are being made.
“I have serious concerns about how the force is currently investigating crime and how it manages offenders and suspects.
“I am aware that before our inspection, the force had already recognised the need to achieve better outcomes for victims.
“However, these plans have not yet led to consistent improvements across the whole force, and more work needs to be done to make sure that this happens.”
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He praised the Met Police for progress in answering calls quickly, but added changes are “not yet translating into consistent and sustained improvements in some key areas”.
In the “managing offenders and suspects” section, inspectors identified a lack of training in both the process of managing suspects and offenders and in use of the Violent and Sex Offender Register.
‘Risk wasn’t managed’
In one example, a high-risk registered sex offender had not been visited by officers or team members since 2017.
“As such, this individual and the risk they pose to the community wasn’t being managed,” the report said.
More generally, it found too many visits to registered sex offenders were announced in advance, potentially allowing the offender to conceal any prohibited devices.
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A performance report provided to inspectors highlighted the Met Police had a “no further action” rate of 60% for “indecent imagery of children” investigations.
Staff outside the online child sexual abuse and exploitation team did not have access to a digital triage, meaning officers “must guess which devices could have indecent images on them”.
Among its recommendations, the inspectorate called for the force to 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.
Met ‘reflecting carefully’
The Met Police said it is “using every available resource to deliver more trust, less crime and high standards” and HMICFRS’ report “underlines why this continuing reform is needed”.
“Since this inspection took place, we have already agreed a plan to move forward from the enhanced HMICFRS monitoring (known as ‘Engage’),” a spokesperson said.
“We are now reflecting carefully on the findings, the core of which reflect our A New Met for London plans and the briefing we gave to the HMIC.”
