Because they are failing women, the Met Police should be relieved of its obligation to provide care for rape survivors, according to London’s victim’s commissioner today.
After letting them down for years, Claire Waxman accuses Scotland Yard of giving “poor reactions from the police to rape survivors” and suggests that an independent organization be established in its place.
That, according to Ms. Waxman, would free up investigators to focus on solving rape cases and putting rapists in jail.
One alleged victim of rape stated in December that informing the Met about the incident was the “worst mistake” they had ever made since they felt “belittled” and like their experiences had been “minimized.”
Rape victims in London have frequently claimed that police “did not believe” them and “belittled” them.
According to a recent research, the number of persons withdrawing rape claims within a month of filing them has drastically increased despite the already poor conviction rates, since several cops are being investigated for sex abuse, including one who is accused of 44 charges of rape.
According to Ms. Waxman, “I can’t have victims being abused like way any longer.”
I’m not surprised to learn of the police’s appalling treatment of rape survivors.
That only demonstrates the police’ complete lack of knowledge and expertise, she added, adding that they had no business being in the vicinity of rape survivors.
“It’s upsetting for me; five years of working with the Met as a critical friend to try and propel them ahead have resulted in them going backwards, not forwards.”
I came here to better the experience of victims, and if the Met won’t let me, I’ll have to find another method.
Hubert Greliak, Juliana Terlizzi’s former lover, sexually assaulted her in February 2020.
She gave up her right to remain anonymous and stated this of the police: “I felt entirely unsupported.” I felt like I was being treated more like a suspect at this point than a victim.
Sir Cressida Following a string of scandals, London Mayor Sadiq Khan abruptly fired Dick as commissioner in February.
The rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, the discovery of a group of officers at Charing Cross police station who joked about raping women and killing black children, and the imprisonment of two policemen who took photos of dead bodies at a cordon were among them.
Priti Patel and Sadiq Khan, who have endorsed Sir Mark Rowley to turn around the failing force, announced last Friday that he will be the next Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
The associate commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and former chief constable of Surrey of Scotland Yard won the £292,000-a-year position against Nick Ephgrave.
After a devastating inspection last month exposed a long list of new failings, the Met was placed under special measures.
These included officers failing to record tens of thousands of crimes, ignoring almost all anti-social behaviour victims, failing to help vulnerable victims, and failing to handle a backlog of numerous online child abuse referrals.
He takes over for Cressida Dick, who was forced to resign in February as a result of a year-long string of scandals that included the murder of Sarah Everard by one of her officers, the force being labelled “institutionally corrupt” by an independent inquiry, and the imprisonment of two officers for taking photos of dead murder victims.
In light of the recent decline in trust and confidence, Sir Mark stated: “Our job is to spearhead the renewal of policing by consent, which has been so severely damaged.”
“We will collaborate with London’s various communities as we mutually revive the distinctively British concept of “policing by consent,” delivering more trust, less crime, and high standards for London and beyond.
Sir Mark stated that accepting the position was an honour for him.
Our goal is to spearhead the restoration of consent-based policing, which has suffered greatly in recent years as public trust and confidence have declined.
“I appreciate that the Home Secretary and Mayor are both adamant about supporting the critical reforms required to enable effective neighbourhood crime-fighting in the fast-paced world of today.
These changes affect our culture, how we use data and technology, and how we approach enforcement. We won’t employ strategies on our own; rather, we’ll battle crime with communities.
I also know that the vast majority of officers and employees still have a remarkable sense of purpose and tenacity and are motivated to improve things.
It is my responsibility to support them in doing so and to ruthlessly purge those who are undermining our integrity.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London who represents the Labour party, and Priti Patel, the home secretary, have reconciled over his appointment following their disagreement over Ms. Dick’s resignation when Mayor Khan pulled the plug.
Sir Mark Rowley, who served the people of the West Midlands and Surrey before leading the capital through some of its most difficult times following the 2017 terror attacks as the Met’s then head of counter-terrorism, was described as a distinguished and exceptionally experienced police officer by Ms. Patel.
He now assumes one of the most important and challenging positions in law enforcement, serving as the head of the nation’s largest force at a time when the public’s confidence in the Metropolitan Police has been seriously damaged by a series of serious shortcomings.
His top priorities must be restoring public trust and reducing crime.
“A series of awful scandals have not only highlighted serious culture issues inside the Met, but have also exacerbated a crisis of confidence in London’s police force,” said Mayor Khan.
Sir Mark has made it quite plain to me that he is committed to being a reforming Commissioner, committed to putting into action a solid strategy to restore public confidence in the police, and determined to push through the critical changes in culture and performance that Londoners demand.
“Like Mayor, I will back him and hold him accountable for keeping these pledges, just as I have been doing with the Met.”
Less than two weeks have passed since the police watchdog placed the force under special measures.
In a letter, HMICFRS listed a number of mishaps at the biggest force in Britain, including the killing of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, the ‘racially profiled’ stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams, and the strip-search of Child Q, a 15-year-old black schoolgirl.
It comes after other controversies, such as the inadequate investigation of serial killer Stephen Port and the discovery of racist WhatsApp messages exchanged between Charing Cross Police Station personnel.
Other tragedies were the imprisonment of two officers for photographing the bodies of Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, murdered sisters, and Operation Midland, the botched investigation into fictitious allegations of VIP paedophilia.
Videos of police dancing with protestors sparked accusations that the force was not taking the Extinction Rebellion rallies seriously, and the force received harsh criticism for failing to prevent London from being shut down.
The Metropolitan Police Federation’s president applauded Sir Mark Rowley’s appointment as the force’s new Commissioner.
The union’s president, Ken Marsh, said: “I welcome Sir Mark Rowley as the new commissioner, I think he’s the appropriate man for the position.”
“My coworkers and I are happy that the position has been filled because the vacancy was hurting us during a very trying time, especially with the force being put into extraordinary measures,” they said.
“What we would now like is for the Mayor and the politicians to back off and stop the relentless attacks and let Sir Mark get on with the job at hand to achieve outcomes for the people of London,” the group said.
After four years as the Met’s counterterrorism operations director, Sir Mark is a well-known name. Sir Mark, who left the police in 2018, is still only 58 years old and has been persuaded to return by the most important position in British policing.
Prior to spending seven years as an associate commissioner for the Met after beginning his career on the beat in Birmingham in 1987, he worked for three years as the chief constable of Surrey.
He was in charge of the search for Milly Dowler while stationed in Surrey.
Later, he acknowledged that his detectives were aware that a News of the World employee had hacked Milly’s cell phone at the time of her abduction.
Sir Mark claimed that in 2002, a call from the paper to the investigation’s operating room made it evident that her voicemail had been accessed.
He claimed that because it was the top priority, officers only “focused on recovering any evidence the NotW had that could assist in the inquiry into Milly Dowler’s disappearance.”
Over the course of his more than 30 years in law enforcement, he has changed both policing and national security.
He increased public trust in Surrey to the greatest level in the nation while serving as Chief Constable.
Sir Mark changed the way the UK tackles counterterrorism and policing gangs after joining the Metropolitan Police Service.
He also increased community involvement and workforce diversity, led the police response to the 2017 London terror attacks, and brought shootings and homicides in the city to an all-time low.
He oversaw changes to public order, organized crime, and fraud police and established the 200-person Op Falcon squad to battle the rise of online fraud and cybercrime.
He has worked on specialized security initiatives, technology/data led transformation with “start-ups” and the largest professional services organization in the world since leaving the police force in 2018.
He has concentrated on fighting racism and extremism online, maintaining institutional integrity, and combating illicit funding.