Thousands of Met Police officers were recruited without proper vetting checks - some after the Wayne Couzens scandal - urgent review to begin

The policing inspectorate is to carry out an urgent independent inspection into the Metropolitan Police’s recruitment and vetting standards, after it emerged that thousands of candidates joined the force without proper checks.   

This follows an internal review carried out by the Met which found that the force had lowered vetting checks into the background of both prospective and existing police officers and staff between 2018 and 2023. This included not checking military backgrounds, not doing full intelligence checks when re-vetting officers, and not carrying out proper pre-employment referencing checks.   

As a result, thousands of individuals may have been inappropriately recruited who later went on to commit misconduct or were accused of criminal behaviour.   

The Met estimates that more than 5,000 officers and staff were recruited without the necessary checks and has been unable to confirm whether pre-employment checks were carried out on around 17,000 officers and staff.   

To reassure public trust in the force, the Home Secretary has asked HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary to look at how these systematic failures within the Met were allowed to happen, including how and why decisions were made to deviate away from standard vetting practices. It will also consider whether the Met have put in place the right checks to prevent this from happening.  

The inspection will:   

• Identify how and why decisions were made to deviate away from standard vetting practices;    

• Provide assurance that the issues raised in the review have been addressed; and    

• Ensure the right checks are put in place to prevent this happening again.  

In addition to the commissioned inspection, the Home Secretary has also asked HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary to provide an assessment of whether other police forces across England and Wales may have deviated from vetting standards.  

The Home Secretary commissioned HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary within days of taking post to inspect this issue so it could progress as soon as the Met’s full report had been completed. The inspection has already started.     

Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said: “Abandoning vetting checks on officers was a dereliction of the Met’s duty to keep London safe.   

“Londoners rightly expect officers to undergo robust checks so that the brightest and best – not criminals - are policing our streets.     

“I have asked the Chief Inspector of Constabulary to carry out an inspection as I seek to restore trust in the force’s ability to protect and serve the public.”   

The Home Secretary has also met yesterday (7 January) with The Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, College of Policing CEO, Sir Andy Marsh, and National Police Chiefs’ Council, Gavin Stephens, and will write to all forces in England and Wales to ensure the highest standards are being met.   

Sir Mark Rowley commissioned the initial Met review as part of his drive to raise standards in the capital’s force, and this government is already introducing unprecedented vetting reforms to make sure that unsuitable applicants cannot join the ranks in future.  

Maintaining vetting clearance is now a legal requirement for all serving officers, meaning police chiefs can now sack anyone who fails to do this and, for the first time, vetting standards will be enshrined in law so forces will be legally required to check candidates properly.   

Additionally, new legislative standards are being developed which will strengthen the ability of police chiefs to remove individuals who have a caution or conviction for violence against women and girls offences.   

Following the inspection, HMICFRS will make recommendations to the Met and the Home Secretary on how whether and how the force’s current vetting practices can be improved. The Home Office will work with forces, the National Police Chiefs' Council and the College of Policing to ensure vetting and recruitment processes are as robust as possible.   

HMICFRS is due to publish the findings from its inspection later this year.