Disgusting London police

Totally corrupt

Three hundred Metropolitan Police officers and staff have been caught misusing the force’s computers including some who were passing information to criminals.

Officers were found leaking intelligence to a gangster linked to firearms, passing on information about drugs, and obtaining computer data ‘to assist in criminality’.

There were also cases in which an officer made ‘inappropriate sexual comments about children’ on a website, searched for pornography on Met networks, or signed up to a sex website on their office computer.

The scale of the corrupt or self-serving use of Met computers over nearly five years provoked criticism.

Former Tory leadership contender David Davis said: ‘The extent to which police officers have used confidential police information for criminal ends, and abused individuals’ private information for their personal benefit, is astonishing.

‘This directly impacts on the level of trust between the police and the public.’

The disclosure of the way officers have frequently abused police information to help criminals or themselves follows the report by Mark Ellison QC into the handling of the Stephen Lawrence murder inquiry, which found compelling evidence of police cover-up and corruption. The Daily Mail has highlighted concerns over corruption connected to the Lawrence case and others, and the way evidence of criminal behaviour within the Met appears to have been destroyed.

The Press Association news agency, which collated incidents of computer misuse in the Met, found 300 that were classed as breaches of the Data Protection Act between January 2009 and October last year.

Of the 300 cases, 208 led to formal action being taken – including criminal prosecutions or disciplinary action. The number of them that led to prosecutions is unknown.

The remaining 92 cases resulted in outcomes including retirement or resignation, written warnings, management action (a less serious sanction) and, in two cases, no further action.

Around one in five of the total led to the sacking or retirement of an officer.

Among the most serious cases was one in which criminals – thought to have been violent or sexual offenders – used an officer to provide ‘data to assist in criminality’.

Another officer provided information ‘of a significant level to a prominent criminal with links to firearms’. The Met took action against a detective chief inspector who committed ‘offences contrary to the Prevention of Corruption Act’, it said. In another case, a candidate for a police driving exam was sent the answers by a colleague.

A Met spokesman said: ‘We recognise that protecting the sensitive data we hold is critical to public confidence and our ability to fight crime effectively.

‘The Metropolitan Police Service treats any allegation about the conduct of its staff extremely seriously and will always take steps to determine whether the conduct of that member of staff has breached the required standards of professional behaviour.’

Original report here

　

　

　

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