unexplored cases
The two weeks following an internal inquiry at Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police in London faced a stark finding: women feel unsafe in the city and some police officers have harmed the very people they are sworn to protect. A new officer was found guilty of raping a woman known to him in Lambeth, South London, on September 25, 2021. The victim did not report the assault immediately, but did so in January 2022, leading to the officer’s arrest.
After the report surfaced, the officer reviewed the victim’s name in police systems and accessed the limited crime report about himself, a clear misuse of access that suggested malicious intent. This triggered a broader investigation that resulted in his dismissal from the force in July 2022. During the trial, the former officer pleaded not guilty, claiming innocence, but the evidence overwhelmingly supported a guilty verdict. A punishment date was set for May 23.
An ongoing internal review, overseen by Baroness Casey, a government official, released findings on March 21 that cast a harsh light on the London Police. The report concluded that the force failed to protect women from their own agents, leaving women and girls vulnerable in society and indicating that even female civil servants faced sexist harassment from male partners.
Baroness Casey also criticized the police for not treating violence against women and girls as a priority and noted that allegations of domestic abuse by police officers and crimes against women were not taken seriously enough.
past and ongoing concerns
The review of past incidents began with the arrest of a police officer in a separate case. In March 2021, Wayne Couzens was charged with kidnapping, rape, and murder in the case of Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old marketing manager living in the area. It emerged that Couzens had been confronted with repeated complaints from women who felt harassed in public, and those reports were not adequately investigated before Couzens continued to patrol the streets.
Similar patterns appeared in the broader force records. Reports show thousands of complaints about officers in the force, with tens of thousands of interactions involving domestic violence or sexual abuse by partners or colleagues. Only a fraction of these cases led to suspensions. In February, another officer, David Carrick, was convicted and given a life sentence for abuse spanning 17 years, including 24 rapes committed while serving as a police officer. The judge described him in stark terms as a monster and a sexual predator, highlighting the severity of his crimes among the wider concerns about misconduct within the force.
At the head of the unit once led by Murdock, Inspector Andy Carter expressed disappointment in the former officer’s conduct and emphasized that the actions taken were prompt. He stated that Murdock’s case was dealt with immediately, with removal from duties and eventual termination after admitting unauthorized access to computer equipment. Carter underscored the commitment to maintaining public trust and ensuring that officers are people the community feels safe approaching. Citational note: internal police review and press statements from the force.