The Commissioner’s comments this morning on the Metropolitan Police Federation’s judicial review will surprise Londoners who would hope and expect that their ‘top cop’ has a better understanding of the law than seems to be the case.
Judicial reviews test that decisions have been made according to the law of the land and it’s chilling that Sir Mark either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about fair and lawful treatment of the men and women he purports to lead.
We support and defend police officers' rights to a fair process and to ensure that decisions are made within the law, safeguarding the integrity of the police force, the rights of workers and the confidence of the communities where we serve.
By their oath and in their daily work, police officers are rightly called to the highest standards of professionalism and conduct at all times and there is no place in policing for those who, by their own misdeeds, sully the good name of their colleagues and damage the confidence in policing of their communities.
One thousand officers have been sacked and disbarred in the past two years for failing to uphold the duty and honour by which we serve, which by no means suggests a “crazy” regime that lets bad cops off the hook.
We want nothing more than police officers to be treated according to the laws that they risk their health and wellbeing daily trying to uphold and defend.