‘There needs to be an exceptional tier of scrutiny when it comes to watching the watchers’

DOES anyone still have faith in the police?

It shouldn’t take the extra focus which International Women’s Day brings to consider this question.

Few people will not feel at least a flicker of doubt when approaching an officer.

This is the impact the wretched Wayne Couzens, and his like, have had on society as a whole.

The horrific Sarah Everard abduction, rape and murder – by a police officer employed to protect and serve – was the ultimate betrayal of trust.

It irrevocably destroyed what little bond there was left between the public and the police in what should have been a watershed moment, not just for the Met but also the government.

The details of the case – some revealed for the first time in a documentary this week on the BBC – are truly shocking.

Couzens was reported eight times to the police before he attacked and murdered Sarah. Reports of indecent exposure were mishandled over the years. He had repeatedly exposed himself in the weeks before the murder.

Bold promises were made at the time. But it seems that few lessons have been learned. There has been no meaningful reform or sanctions.

What has followed has been an almost textbook example of our impotent democratic system: outcry, protest, politicians respond, an inquiry is called, the issue disappears into the long grass.

Does anyone really believe that the toxic culture in the police force has changed in any significant way?

There has been an avalanche of stories about misogyny, racism and sexist attitudes in the Met.

One lesson that needs to be learned is that we need to be more wary of people that seek out a job defined by holding power and control over others.

Rather like checks and balances we hope existed to stop politicians from indulging in the kind of activities we saw after Covid with the VIP lanes, there needs to be an exceptional tier of scrutiny when it comes to watching the watchers.

The Met Police is a publicly funded service but its inner workings are not so easily scrutinised in the way that, for example, the NHS or local government can be.

Jamie Klingler, from Reclaim the Streets, has been talking a lot of sense about the issue this week.

She said in an article about the BBC documentary: “Some men who hate women intentionally want to be in policing to abuse women and for that power.

“We need recruitment, vetting and whistle-blowing policies that prevent them from being hired in the first place – but if they are hired, don’t let them pass probation.”