Writing for the OnLondon website, Caroline Pidgeon has set out her concerns at the Metropolitan Police's reponse to the powerful and damning report of the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, with its findings of institutional corruption.
Caroline writes:
The Met is filled with dedicated officers, but to dismiss key findings of the Morgan inquiry out of hand undermines their good work. The Commissioner focuses on the fact that all police services face instances of corruption, but in doing that she is failing to engage with the institutional corruption charge. I am deeply worried that the Met’s senior leadership’s defensive attitude to the report – and to other recent criticism – does the opposite of protecting the Met.
The British tradition of policing by consent is at the heart of this matter. Unless the Met can acknowledge and tackle this issue seriously, then ultimately its legitimacy is under threat. The next few months will be crucial, and with the Commissioner’s contract now running to 2024, I hope she will make the urgent change of approach needed to tackle institutional corruption head on. I will be scrutinising the Met’s response every step of the way.