Statement in relation to this evening's BBC Panorama

Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said:

“The behaviour depicted in this programme is reprehensible and completely unacceptable.

“Officers behaving in such appalling, criminal ways, let down our communities and will cause some to question if their sons and daughters are safe in our cells, and whether they would be believed and respected as victims of crime. For that, I am truly sorry.

“In line with our uncompromising approach, within 48 hours of these allegations being received, nine officers and one staff member had been suspended, with two more officers removed from frontline duties.

“It’s my expectation that for those involved, where there is incontrovertible evidence of racism, misogyny, anti-Muslim sentiment or bragging about excessive use of force, they will be put on a fast-track hearing within weeks and on a path to likely dismissal. We stand ready to work with the IOPC to make this happen.

“We have disbanded the custody team at Charing Cross, made changes to local leadership and have begun wider work to identify any other areas of concern in detention teams across the Met.  

“As Commissioner, I have been candid about the systemic, cultural, leadership and regulatory failings that have allowed misogyny, racism and a lack of public service ethos to put down deep roots. We are part way into conducting what is already the biggest corruption clear-out in British policing history. We are relentlessly arresting and sacking officers and staff with 11 forced out each week – more than triple the rate of the previous weak approaches that left this toxic legacy behind.

“This progress stands on the determination of the good majority of our people who have stepped forward and reported wrongdoing at three times the rate. We are all committed to relentlessness until that job is finished.  

“Having cleared out huge volumes of unsuitable staff over recent years, we are now probing deeper into the corrupt networks and cliques our actions have driven underground. 

“We are hardening our policies such as bringing membership of secret societies into the light, and deploying AI and analytical intelligence technologies to spot early signs and troubling trends in our staff’s behaviour. 

“The vast majority of our people join policing with a vocational sense of public duty. We’ll support even more staff to report wrongdoing and we will equip and develop our leaders to help them succeed in driving lasting cultural change. Those who can’t or won’t improve should expect to leave.”

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Our work in the last three years

In the last three years we have conducted the biggest police corruption clear-out in British history. As part of this:

• We have relentlessly pursued and removed almost 1,500 officers and staff who failed to meet our standards, at an unprecedented pace.
  

• Forced exits have trebled to around 550 last year compared to 150 in 2020.

• Internal reporting has also trebled thanks to the courage and conviction of colleagues – from around 400 in 2021/22 to 1,400 in 2024/25. This is testament to the decent majority of our people who have stood up and refused to accept poor behaviour.
  

• We have 200 more officers who are specifically and proactively focused on uncovering and dealing with wrongdoing – and we’re using covert tactics to tackle the most corrupt.
  
  
• And we have strengthened our vetting system – refusal rates have more than doubled to 11 per cent.
  
  In addition to this unprecedented blitz on standards, we have taken significant steps to address cultural issues:
  
  
• All 40k Met staff and officers have received bespoke training on the values they are expected to follow.
  

• We have also ensured all staff and officers have completed additional training, so they can recognise and combat victim-blaming behaviours.
  

• And our teams now understand that children must be treated as just that – not adults.
  
  We have made progress to rebuild trust:

• 81 per cent of Londoners agree the Met is doing a good or fair job and 74 per cent of Londoners agree the Met is an organisation they can trust.  
  

• And the confidence gap between female and male Londoners has closed, while trust among Black Londoners has increased by 10 per cent over two years.
  

• We’re also better at supporting victims - with victim satisfaction improving from 59 per cent to 63 per cent in the past year.  
  
  We took immediate action to address the issues highlighted at Charing Cross – the IOPC now leads the investigation following our referral:
  

• Within 48 hours of these allegations being received, nine officers and one staff member had been suspended, with two more officers removed from frontline duties.
  

• We have disbanded the custody team at Charing Cross, made changes to local leadership and have begun wider work to identify any other areas of concern in detention teams across the Met.
  

• All 34 Dedicated Detention Officers - a police staff role - based at Charing Cross were moved to alternative custody sites with immediate effect.
  

• All 16 Charing Cross custody sergeants were taken out and posted into other non-custody parts of the business.
  

• In terms of senior leadership – we are in the process of moving a number of our Chief Inspectors and Superintendents at Central West Command Unit, which covers Charing Cross police station, as well as senior leaders within our custody directorate.  
  

• Beyond Charing Cross, over the next year we are going to drive a programme of wider turnover of staffing in custody suites - moving any custody sergeants with more than two years’ tenure.
  

• We are also looking more widely at custody units across the Met - using our data to identify any areas of concern and where management / leadership interventions are required.
  

• We have asked for more visits to custody suites by independent assessors so they can help us to identify poor practice.
  

• Additionally, we are re-reviewing a number of complaints relating to custody to make sure any isolated or more systemic issues are identified and pursued.