Met Police asks 'hundreds of retired officers with misconduct records to return to force' in bid to boost numbers
31 January 2023, 21:41
The Metropolitan Police force has asked hundreds of retired officers with misconduct records to return to the force in a bid to boost numbers inside Scotland Yard.
It is estimated around 250 officers who were disciplined at misconduct hearings during their time in the Met have been contacted by Scotland Yard, citing their "valuable skills and experience".
Meanwhile, a further 99 officers who retired while still under investigation have also been approached by the Met.
In total, the Met wrote to more than 3,200 ex-officers asking them to consider rejoining the police force.
Doing so would entitle them to full pay on top of their pension, The Times reports.
All applicants were fully vetted and of the six ex-officers that have been hired, none had any recent or ongoing misconduct warnings on their record, the Met said.
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The Met's approach has raised concern as the under-fire police force attempts to recruit 4,000 new officers by March.
A source close to Suella Braverman, the home secretary, said: “This is worrying and the Met police should be making sure any officers coming into the force are of the highest quality.”
It comes after the highly-damaging case of serial rapist David Carrick, a former cop who carried out a number of sickening sexual acts, from locking naked women in a cupboard under his stairs to branding them his "slaves".
The sick officer had already pleaded guilty to 43 charges, including 20 counts of rape, in December.Carrick, 48, who was branded "B*****d Dave by colleagues, used popular dating apps such as Tinder to meet his victims.
He then used his position to lure women and then bully them into keeping quiet about his attacks over an 18-year period, police and prosecutors said.
The new head of the Metropolitan Police Sir Mark Rowley has since published his nine-point plan to reform the force after a wake of scandals including the rapist cop David Carrick.
Sir Rowley promised to turn around the force, which he insisted is full of "tens of thousands of hard-working and honest officers".
He said: "I am determined to win back Londoners' trust.
"We can succeed because of the dedicated, honest, often heroic, men and women who are the great majority of the Met. Our work has begun, but I must be candid."
