Six British cops who used baseball bats to smash up a suspect's car WILL keep their jobs

Six Scotland Yard officers who smashed up a suspect's car with baseball bats will keep their jobs despite being found guilty of discreditable conduct. One 'overly aggressive' detective sergeant was demoted to detective constable but he and five other officers are set to remain at the Metropolitan Police.

A misconduct probe was launched after the incident in Edmonton, north London, in 2008 was captured on film.

The attackers smashed the car's windows, piled inside and hauled the driver onto the tarmac.

They were even accused of doctoring the film by overlaying the music to Tracey Chapman's hit Fast Car onto it but they claimed the song happened to be blaring out from a nearby car stereo.

The five Pcs involved were formally reprimanded after a Met Police misconduct hearing heard evidence surrounding their actions on a suspected stolen car. The suspect was later convicted of handling stolen goods.

Deborah Glass of the IPCC said: 'Officers acting in this way bring the police service into disrepute.

'You do not expect to see police officers smashing a car with a baseball bat. Whatever the threat they claimed to experience, their actions should be proportionate and reasonable - which in this case they plainly weren't.

'They breached their codes of professional conduct and their actions were far below the standards rightly expected of police officers by the public.'

The detective sergeant failed to properly supervise his officers by allowing them to use baseball bats and a pickaxe handle to stop and detain the driver, the panel found. 'The five other officers were found to have used more force than was reasonable or necessary to affect the stop by using a non- issue baseball bat, hitting the rear offside window, causing it to smash,' a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission managed the investigation.

The film only came to light after anti-corruption investigators stumbled across it during a separate probe into the squad's misuse of property.

Commander Peter Spindler, of the force's directorate of professional standards, said: 'The behaviour displayed by the six officers that day was unacceptable and as such the board has rightly sanctioned them for it.

'The officers abused their position of trust and authority and by doing so breached the high professional standards expected by the public and the vast majority of outstanding MPS officers and staff who carry out their service to the public with professionalism and integrity.

'Any allegations of behaviour that is contrary to the police regulations will be thoroughly investigated and, if appropriate, officers will be put before a misconduct hearing to answer for their actions.'

A string of allegations were made during a multimillion-pound investigation into the Enfield Crime Squad. The probe began in May 2008, surrounding the alleged handling of property by officers.

A total of 16 officers and one member of police staff were investigated before prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence to charge any of them.

Original report here




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