Julie Bindel Julie Bindel

The police service is rotten to the core

(Photo: iStock)

A report published today by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services for England and Wales should come as no shock to those of us that campaign to end male violence, such as rape and domestic abuse.  

The report was commissioned following the case of Sarah Everard who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in 2021 by serving Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens. The Everard case could have been written off as a rare and extreme example of police violence and misogyny, which is what the former Met Commissioner Cressida Dick tried to do when she said that there was an occasional ‘bad un’ in the job.

But it has long been known that violent and predatory male police officers are not a rarity, far from it. Today’s report acknowledges that hundreds of officers cleared to join the force were unsuitable and should not have been appointed.  

According to the report, some officers were able to join the police after being committed of flashing, domestic abuse related assaults and possession of controlled drugs.

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