In the past four years, the Metropolitan Police, which has been embroiled in scandal, investigated over a thousand officers for misconduct. Surprisingly, only 413 officers either lost their jobs or resigned voluntarily due to misconduct allegations, despite 1,345 being under scrutiny. These revelations, obtained through Freedom of Information requests, followed a BBC Panorama expose that uncovered a toxic and misogynistic culture within the UK’s largest police force.
Out of the 932 officers who retained their positions between 2022 and 2025, only five faced demotion, while 323 received written warnings and 133 received final warnings. Additionally, 21 officers faced no further action, and 441 had their cases dismissed as “unproven.” Furthermore, around 199 back office staff were investigated for misconduct, but only 61 were dismissed.
Gemma Sherrington from the domestic abuse charity Refuge expressed deep concern over the findings, highlighting the lack of accountability for police misconduct, especially in cases involving violence against women and girls. She emphasized the need to address the institutional misogyny within the Met to rebuild trust with women.
Kenny MacAulay from Acting Office, a software company combating institutional corruption, emphasized the importance of maintaining high standards within organizations like the Met. He stressed the need for thorough screening processes and background checks to ensure that both frontline and back-office staff adhere to protocols consistently.
Misconduct within the police force encompasses various behaviors that violate professional standards, including misuse of authority, dishonesty, evidence manipulation, unlawful arrests, brutality, assault, profiling, theft, and tampering with witnesses. These actions erode public confidence in law enforcement.
The recent figures and revelations from the Panorama investigation followed a 2024 review by Baroness Casey, prompted by the murder of Sarah Everard by Met officer Wayne Couzens. The review labeled the Met as institutionally racist. Despite condemning the behavior captured in the BBC’s undercover footage, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley stated he would not resign.
Five officers were dismissed after being caught on camera during the Panorama program, and five more are expected to face disciplinary proceedings as part of an expedited misconduct investigation by the Met.
