The Met updates on the largest reform of culture and standards in decades

The Met is building a healthier and stronger culture that embeds the principle of policing by consent.

We are making progress to better support the tens of thousands of officers and staff who too often feel ill-supported and equipped.

And there have been significant steps to root out the hundreds who have corrupted our integrity as we tackle systemic issues that allowed them to endure.

Amid the strongest doubling down on standards in 50 years:

- 100 police officers have been dismissed for gross misconduct in the last 12 months, an increase of 66 per cent on the historic rate of dismissals.

- A total of 183 officers are currently suspended, up from 69 in September 2022 - a 165 per cent increase.

- There has been a 102 per cent increase in the number of officers awaiting a gross misconduct hearing, compared with this time last year (136 to 275).

- We are supported by the public and our officers reporting alleged misconduct, with reports nearly doubling from 876 to 1,668 over the last 12 months. The number of reports by officers and staff has increased by a third.

- A wide-ranging review of culture at the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, including an overhaul of leadership and supervision, has been completed.

- Better leadership training for all 7,500 sergeants and police staff equivalents is taking place amid increased trauma and mental health support for officers and staff.

This summer we published A New Met for London, our plan for reform which took account of more than 10,000 interactions with members of our communities.

It encompasses our response to the Baroness Casey Review and recommendations by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service.

Today, we are publishing an update of progress to reform our Culture and Standards, ahead of the first London Policing Board on Tuesday, 26 September.

We are also publishing our review of the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Command (PaDP) and details of progress.

Thanks to even more proactive investigations, information from the public and Met people stepping forward to challenge wrongdoing, 100 police officers have been sacked in the last 12 months.

This focus has also led to the number of people awaiting misconduct hearings to increase by over 100 per cent in the last year. Of these, 38 involve allegations of violence against women and girls and 42 involve allegations of discrimination.

The review of PaDP, known as Operation Leven, was launched in the wake of the horrific crimes of Wayne Couzens and David Carrick, who served in the command.

Both Op Leven and Baroness Casey found similar issues in PaDP and other armed commands – an unhealthy work culture arising from a lack of diversity, minimal officer supervision, and a sense of disconnect from the other parts of the Met and from London’s communities which impacted morale.

It was clear PaDP needed to be better led as well as officers better supervised, better trained and better equipped.

To achieve this, we have installed a fresh leadership team and strengthened supervision as well as changing unsustainable working patterns which impacted on resilience.

Checks have been carried out on all existing PaDP officers and new personnel have been brought in, so that a third of the command are new.

We have started to deliver against diversity aims for PaDP, including a Women in Firearms programme, now operating across all armed commands. We are working towards 20 per cent representation of women in PaDP, and an aspiration for 20 per cent of officers in the command to be of Black and ethnic minority heritage.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said: “There is much more work to do and we are not complacent. We are heartened by how the overwhelming majority of officers and staff are stepping forward to build a better Met.

“We hope that the progress set out today reassures Londoners that we are doing all we can deliver an organisation they deserve and our people are proud of.”