The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has launched investigations into the conduct of 12 current or former police officers and staff regarding their handling of allegations against serial rapist David Carrick. In January, Carrick, who was a former serving Metropolitan Police Officer pleaded guilty to 49 offences including 24 counts of rape and was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison.
An initial scoping review of the police’s handling of allegations against Carrick by the watchdog this year led to the decision to launch investigations into multiple alleged failings in investigating allegations against him in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2021. The Guardian reports that the Met Police has already admitted that it should have better identified Carrick as a danger to women and unfit to be a police officer.
The IOPC have said that 6 current Met police officers, one former Met officer and two retired Met officer, and a Met staff member are under investigation for gross misconduct. There are also two police officers from Wiltshire Police under investigation for failing to properly investigate a report made against Carrick in 2016. The investigations could lead to them being sacked and permanently barred from policing.
The IOPC explained that misconduct notices have been served because ‘these individuals may have potentially breached the police standards of professional behaviour by failing in their duty to adequately explore, investigate, supervise or oversee investigations into allegations made against David Carrick while he was a serving police officer.’
However, they have emphasised that this does not mean disciplinary proceedings will follow. Appropriate courses of action will be determined by the IOPC at the conclusion of each investigation.
Mel Palmer, the IOPC regional director, explained: ‘If these matters had been adequately progressed, Carrick could potentially have faced gross misconduct proceedings and been dismissed from the police service years before he was eventually arrested.’
The Guardian also reports that there are fresh allegations of sexual assault being made against Carrick which are being reported by the Hertfordshire police. Continuing investigations has led to the delay in the government inquiry conducted by Dame Elish Angiolini. As reported in the Guardian, she will be unable to complete her inquiry until all other proceedings have concluded.
