Met's Crime Prevention, Inclusion & Engagement Team

Trust, confidence and violence against women and girls

• The Met will always be deeply saddened by the murder of Sarah Everard. We are shocked and disgusted that a serving MPS officer took her life. We know nothing we can do or say can change what has happened but our thoughts are fully with her family and friends and we are very, very sorry for their tragic loss.
  

• We have heard first-hand the impact this terrible crime has had on our communities and we are listening carefully to them as they express their anger and dismay. We are working hard to rebuild trust and to tackle the understandable fears that many have about the threat of violence.
  

• We know Sarah’s murder, together with other awful cases where officers have behaved appallingly toward women, have deeply impacted trust and we are determined to do everything we can rebuild the faith we need the public to have in us. We also know that the change has to start with us.
  

• A wholesale independent review of culture and standards in the Met is underway but we cannot, and are not waiting, for this to begin building the public’s confidence that our police officers will protect and respect them.
  

• We’re investing in our professional standards. The Domestic Abuse and Sexual Offence Team was set up in January and will help make sure we are as robust as we can be in rooting out officers who should not be serving.
  

• We have made it a priority to write to, and speak to, every Met employee to set out the professional standards we expect of them and to support them in helping us root out those who do not meet our values. The Commissioner has made it clear to us that “enough is enough”.
  

• Our determination to root out bad officers and staff, and our support and encouragement to those calling out poor behaviour, will inevitably mean that we see more examples of officers and staff falling a long-way short of our standards in the months ahead. Some of these cases will be hard to hear about, especially when trust is low.
  

• Nevertheless, we will be as transparent as possible to show what we are doing to improve our standards and culture; we will work with our communities closely so we do all we can to earn their trust.

• Our Violence Against Women and Girls action plan is designed to bring more offenders to justice, protect the most vulnerable and make our public spaces safer, and feel safer, for everyone.
  

• We asked the public what more they would like to see us doing. We have acted on that feedback and will publish an updated plan at the end of March. We are ambitious and are transforming – we are listening to experiences of women and girls, we are acting on the findings from independent reviews. In essence, we are learning from other forces. 

  However, we have not waited for a final plan before improving our response to violence against women and girls. We have established specialist Predatory Offenders’ Units across London to arrest and charge those who carry out violence- much of it domestic or sexual violence. Since last November they have arrested over 2,500 suspects, of which over half of cases were related to domestic abuse. 
  

• We have deployed more officers in high-visibility patrols in known hotspot areas for violence against women and girls, and places where people may feel less safe – this is both to reassure the public and deter criminals. We are also using less visible tactics to identify potential offenders and make sure they are not able to do harm to anyone. 
• We are deploying 650 new officers into new Town Centre teams, working in city centres and high streets to reduce crime and increase confidence in communities through greater police visibility, including for women and girls.

• By early March will make the “Walk and Talk” initiative available across London. This project has seen female officers buddying up with local women on street patrols so we and our partners can learn about how to improve their safety.

  

• We are determined to improve the way we investigate rape and sexual assault and put ourselves forward for a national programme to transform our approach. This scrutiny and its findings have been challenging but we will harness them to drive significant reform to better serve victims of crimes that have such a deep and long-lasting impact.

• We are also working with the CPS to speed up the time it takes for survivors to see justice and improve the support provided to them.

   

• We are working with the Probation Service to pilot a GPS tagging system for high-risk domestic abusers so we can monitor them more effectively on their release from prison and improve the safety of victims. 

• In addition, we are delivering new specialist training on domestic abuse to over 8,000 frontline constables and sergeants so we can improve the initial response to domestic abuse. This will assist officers with recognising and responding to coercive and controlling behaviour. 

• We appreciate and acknowledge public concern and anger, and the desire for action to be taken which keeps women and girls safe. We agree.  Women and girls have the right to feel safe, at any time day or night, in public or at home. 

  

• We want to reassure and encourage those survivors of domestic abuse, rape or serious sexual assaults, whether they are recent or non-recent, that you will be listened to and supported, with respect and dignity, and that any crime will be investigated fully to bring perpetrators to justice.

  Message – Wednesday, 9 March 2022

  On Tuesday, like people and organisations around the world, the Met marked International Women’s Day. Coming so soon after the anniversary of the murder of Sarah Everard it was a good opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to women’s safety and celebrate the many brilliant women working in the Met.

  To mark the event, the Walk and Talk initiative we wrote about last week, began in earnest in every borough of London. The scheme is open to women aged 18 and above, living or working in London, who would like to go for a walk with an officer in their local area and discuss their views on women’s safety.

  Those who take part can share their views and experiences with officers as they walk through any areas they may feel vulnerable in. Patrols can take place at any time, including those where there is less footfall, traffic and where there is poor lighting so officers can get a real sense of what their thoughts are.

  The aim of Walk & Talks is to start a conversation between members of the public and officers so we can listen and respond to concerns. Anyone interested is urged to apply on our website 

  https://www.met.police.uk/police-forces/metropolitan-police/areas/campaigns/2022/walk-and-talks/ 

  Please pass this link on to anyone you think could help us understand more about women’s safety. 

  As well as sending a message to London, the Commissioner also marked the event by speaking to an international audience of women at an event in Dublin. She reflected on her personal journey in policing and that of the women who lead the way over 100 years ago – in the face of prejudice and doubt.

  Far from failing as expected, the ‘experiment’ laid the foundations for that small set of inspirational females to blaze a trail for the thousands who have followed in their wake.

  In today’s world she noted how women are ‘thriving’ all over policing, how there has been a 50% increase in the Met of women in chief inspector ranks and above in the last five years, and that the Met’s direct entry detective scheme routinely attracts more than 50% women. She recognised that in common with other police services across the world, the Met has much further to go before it becomes a 50/50 women/men police service. 

  We are continuing to build a Met that better represents the communities it serves by recruiting more women police officers. Now, more than ever, we need women who have a passion for helping others to join the Met, to help us continue to always be better. If you can help us do this please get in touch. 

  Appeal for war crime evidence 

  Sadly events like this continue to be overshadowed by the terrible news from Ukraine. On Friday the Met announced that it was seeking evidence of war crimesto support the investigation by the International Criminal Court. 

  The War Crimes Team is part of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command and has national responsibility for carrying out any UK enquiries into war crimes and core international crimes. Detectives are appealing for anyone in the UK who may have direct evidence of war crimes in Ukraine from 21 November 2013 to the present.

  Officers are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may themselves have witnessed or been the victim of any war crimes in Ukraine at any time from 21 November 2013 onwards.

  It is likely that more people who have escaped the conflict will be living with us in our communities in the weeks and months ahead. If you should encounter anyone who has such evidence please do directly support them in providing it to the team.

  We are absolutely clear that our capital is stronger because of its diversity and our role is to ensure everyone is safe and feels safe. We know our communities will come together to support each other and we will do what we can to help. We are reaching out to ensure they know we are there to support them and we will respond to any issues that arise If you are aware of concerns about this or any other issue where we can help please do let us know. 

  Operational Successes

  There have, again, been many impressive results across the capital in recent weeks – particularly from our ongoing efforts to tackle organised crime.

  Officers from Operation Orochi- which target county lines drug trafficking- arrested four key organised crime suspects in an investigation into four lines responsible for the distribution of over £2m worth of class A drugs over the past year. All four have been charged with conspiracy to supply drugs.

  Operation Orochi also targeted a county line running from London to the south coast and arrested a suspect having linked him to a serious assault on a woman. He is also suspected of trafficking large quantities of drugs; a search of his home identified two kilos of cocaine. He was charged with GBH and drugs offences.

  Our Proactive Money laundering taskforce arrested and charged a man believed to be involved in the laundering of £9m in cash using encrypted messaging accounts and the supply of drugs.

  42 men have been arrested and charged in East London in a series of raids tackling drugs gangs. This marks the culmination of two long running and complex investigations into violence and drugs supply including county lines. Cash, drugs and valuables were seized.

  Following a long and complex operation to target an organised crime group which was trafficking women and girls into the UK for sexual exploitation, a husband and wife were convicted at Southwark Crown Court of over 20 modern slavery offences, human trafficking and controlling prostitution. Both will be sentenced later this month.