The Metropolitan Police has faced scandal after scandal about its culture (Picture: Getty)
Corrupt, racist, sexist and homophobic police officers can now be reported to an anonymous hotline.
The Met Police’s new service, run by Crimestoppers, is going after any officer who takes bribes, uses their powers for sex, acts discriminatively, or abuses their partners.
It comes after a succession of scandals around the force’s culture and behaviour of its staff.
The most harrowing was the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens while he was a serving police constable.
There was also outrage at racist and misogynist messages shared by officers at Charing Cross station, two officers who shared pictures of murder victims Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, and the strip-searching of schoolchildren.
Meanwhile, a watchdog has found the force’s anti-corruption systems are not fit for purpose.
A damning review of disciplinary procedures revealed officers were getting away with misconduct and breaking the law.
Head of anti-corruption, commander James Harman, said: ‘What we want to do with this hotline is to say to the public, we want information about officers who are fundamentally corrupt or who are abusing their policing position.
‘And we want to recognise that for members of the public who are trapped in a relationship of corrupt and abusive use of power, they might not know where to go.
‘They might not feel comfortable walking into the local police station, they might not feel comfortable going through the established routes.
‘This hotline will offer people a different way to seek help that they might not otherwise have felt able to do.’
He went on: ‘We recognise that we’ve had far too many very serious cases where the public have felt let down and been let down by our officers and staff.
‘I think the Met now, recognising how much that trust has been damaged, wants to get on the front foot in demonstrating we are proactively seeking to rebuild confidence, and part of that is about ensuring that we’re doing everything we can to drive up high standards in our organisation.’
The hotline follows the setting up of a new anti-corruption command at the Met, likened to the AC-12 unit in the hit BBC police drama Line of Duty.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
The Met Police claims it will crack down on officers who take bribes, use their powers for sex and abuse their partners.
