Met Police’s Approach to Tackling Corruption ‘Fundamentally Flawed’: UK Watchdog

New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, in London on Feb. 9, 2022. (James Manning/PA)

London’s Metropolitan Police has failed to learn all the lessons from the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan in 1987, and the force’s anti-corruption arrangements and procedures are “fundamentally flawed,” a police watchdog has found.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) on Tuesday published its inspection report (pdf) of the Met, concluding the force’s approach to tackling police corruption is “not fit for purpose.”

Morgan, a private investigator at Southern Investigations in Thornton Heath, was 37 years old when he was axed to death in a dark corner of the car park of the Golden Lion public house in Sydenham, South East London, leaving behind his wife and two young children.

No one has ever been convicted of the murder as a result of four major police investigations, an inquest, and several other operations.

Home Secretary Priti Patel commissioned the HMICFRS inspection in July 2021, after an independent panel—after eight years of investigation—accused the Met of “a form of institutional corruption” for concealing its “serious failings” in the murder investigations.

Alastair Morgan (R), the brother of murdered private investigator Daniel Morgan, with his partner Kirsteen Knight and family solicitor Raju Bhatt (C) speaking to the media following the publication of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel report, at Church House, in Westminster, central London on June 15, 2021. (Kirsty O'Connor/PA)

Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr said that the Met had “sometimes behaved in ways that make it appear arrogant, secretive, and lethargic” and that the watchdog’s 20 recommendations for change must be “among the commissioner’s highest priorities” in order to restore public trust in the force.

But the inspectorate praised the force’s “impressive” ability to investigate the most serious corruption allegations and work to support whistleblowers, while recognising it had “greatly reduced” the number of personnel who were not properly vetted.

It also stressed it found no evidence of any deliberate or coordinated attempts by the Met to frustrate the work of The Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, and therefore “would not describe the Met as institutionally corrupt.”

During the inspection, the HMICFRS found that the Met has recruited people with criminal connections and more than 100 people who have committed offences in the past two years.

“Some of these recruitment decisions may have been justifiable, but the force failed to properly supervise these people to lessen the risks,” the inspectorate said in a statement.

It also described the Met’s property and exhibits procedures as being “dire.”

“Hundreds of items were not accounted for, including cash and drugs. In one instance, the security access code for a property store had been inscribed on the outside of the door,” HMICFRS said.

Other examples included an insufficient vetting system for sensitive posts, more than 2,000 missing warrant cards, and the lack of IT monitoring capability.

“It is unacceptable that 35 years after Daniel Morgan’s murder, the Metropolitan Police has not done enough to ensure its failings from that investigation cannot be repeated,” Parr said.

“In fact, we found no evidence that someone, somewhere, had adopted the view that this must never happen again.”

Par said the HMICFRS found “substantial weaknesses in the Met’s approach to tackling police corruption.”

“It is clear that the current arrangements are not fit for purpose,” he said.

“The Met’s apparent tolerance of these shortcomings suggests a degree of indifference to the risk of corruption.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel speaks at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, England, on Oct. 5, 2021. (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Patel said she was “very disappointed that serious issues still persist,” adding: “Standards must be immediately improved. I expect the Mayor of London and the new Commissioner to reverse these deficiencies as a matter of urgency.”

The position of Met Commissioner is currently vacant as former Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick resigned on Feb. 11 after losing the support of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Khan said the HMICFRS’s findings were “deeply worrying,” adding: “It is crystal clear to me that action needs to be taken at the highest levels of the Met in order to regain the trust and confidence of Londoners.”

Morgan’s family—who are suing the Met—said “unless and until” there are “root-and-branch changes” in its leadership team, “we consider we are unlikely to see any meaningful progress within the Met in relation to police corruption.”

The Met welcomed the report but said it was “deeply concerned at the criticisms” and was “urgently reviewing our systems and processes,” adding: “There is a lot we need to improve on.”

Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House said he was “professionally disappointed” that some of the force’s anti-corruption measures “have not been working well enough” and this was “already being put right.” But he added: “There are some areas where our judgment is different from the police inspectorate.”

The force accepted “there is a lot of work to do in order to rebuild the trust people have in us” and “we remain completely focused on building a police service Londoners can be proud of,” House said.