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Metropolitan Police Vetting Failures: Shocking Revelations from Internal Review

Metropolitan Police Vetting Failures: Shocking Revelations from Internal Review

A recent internal review by the Metropolitan Police (Met) has exposed serious lapses in vetting procedures between 2013 and March 2023, allowing thousands of officers and staff to join or remain in the force without proper background checks. The findings, published in early January 2026, reveal that these failures contributed to the recruitment and retention of individuals who went on to commit serious crimes and misconduct, severely damaging public trust in Britain's largest police force.

The review found that more than 5,000 officers and staff were recruited without the required checks, including missing Special Branch intelligence, Ministry of Defence verifications, or proper reference validations. In one period alone (2018 to April 2022), 17,355 officers and staff did not have their employment references properly checked, if at all. The Met estimates that around 1,200 individuals who joined might not have been hired under current, stricter standards.

Most alarmingly, 131 officers and staff who were not properly vetted went on to commit crimes or misconduct. These offences ranged from serious sexual violence and drug use to violent attacks and affray.

High-Profile Cases Highlight the Failures

Two serial rapists stand out as stark examples of how vetting shortcomings allowed dangerous individuals to serve as officers.

David Carrick

David Carrick, described as one of the UK's worst sex offenders, was convicted of 49 rapes and other offences, receiving 37 life sentences. He joined the Met in 2001 and passed initial vetting, but a re-vetting in 2017 failed to uncover a prior allegation of domestic abuse. This oversight allowed him to continue serving as an armed officer while committing further attacks.

“David Carrick, one of the UK's worst sex offenders, [...] was not properly vetted in 2017, with checks failing to reveal an allegation of domestic abuse against him.”

— BBC News, January 2026

Cliff Mitchell

Another case involves Cliff Mitchell, who was recruited in 2020 despite a 2017 allegation of raping a child (the case was initially dropped). His initial vetting rejection was overturned by a now-abolished internal panel established to address disproportionality in recruitment and improve diversity. Mitchell later committed over 50 sex attacks, including a “campaign of rape” on two victims over nine years, and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of nearly 18 years in 2024.

“Mitchell was allowed to join the force in 2020 after a vetting panel, partly aimed at improving diversity, overturned a decision to reject him despite a previous rape allegation.”

— BBC News, January 2026

“A vetting panel - partly focused on improving diversity - overturned the decision to reject him despite the unproven allegation.”

— Daily Mail, January 2026

The review indicated that this panel overturned rejections in at least 114 cases out of 505 reviewed, with 25 of those individuals (including Mitchell) later accused of crimes or misconduct.

Causes: Pressure to Meet Recruitment Targets

The failures stemmed from intense pressure during the national Police Uplift Programme (2019–2023), a government initiative to recruit 20,000 additional officers across England and Wales. The Met aimed to add over 4,500 officers, facing financial penalties if targets were missed. Senior leaders adopted an “assertive approach” prioritizing speed over thorough checks, deviating from national guidelines. The report described this as leading to “overconfidence in the ability to recruit at scale and lack of resources in vetting increased risk.”

“Senior leaders embarked on an assertive approach towards hiring and vetting practices in order to meet what would become unachievable recruitment targets and grow the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) workforce at pace.”

— Cited in BBC News and other reports, January 2026

Compounding these issues was the role of a special panel that, in pursuit of diversity goals, overturned vetting refusals—highlighting how ambitions for a more representative workforce sometimes conflicted with rigorous safety standards.

Broader Implications: Safety Priorities and Free Speech

While the Met relaxed vetting to meet hiring targets, allowing risks into its ranks, the UK has seen aggressive enforcement against ordinary citizens for online expression. Reports from 2025 indicate police make more than 30 arrests a day—around 12,000 annually, for "offensive" online posts, retweets, or cartoons under communications laws, often for content deemed grossly offensive or causing anxiety, even where it challenges prevailing views.

“Police are making more than 30 arrests a day over what they deem to be offensive online posts, retweets or cartoons. That’s 12,000 arrests a year.”

— Forbes, September 2025 (citing Times analysis and parliamentary debate)

Recent developments add to concerns: In early January 2026, the government considered restricting or banning X (formerly Twitter) over its Grok AI generating sexualised deepfake images, with ministers calling for urgent action and Ofcom involvement—raising questions about balancing online harms against free expression and press freedoms.

“The UK could ban Elon Musk's X social media platform being used by the Government after its artificial intelligence chatbot was used to create sexualised deepfake images of kids.”

— The Mirror, January 2026

This contrast—leniency on internal vetting risks versus strict policing of public speech—fuels debate about priorities in protecting both safety and fundamental British liberties.

Responses and Reforms

“We found that some historical practices did not meet the strengthened hiring and vetting standards we have today. We identified these issues ourselves and have fixed them quickly while making sure any risk to the public has been properly and effectively managed. [...] The Met recruits hundreds of officers and staff every year, the overwhelming majority of exemplary character who are dedicated to protecting the public.”

— Met Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams, quoted in BBC News and The Guardian, January 2026

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the lapses as a “dereliction of the Met's duty to keep London safe” and ordered an independent inspection by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary. Paula Dodds, Chairwoman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, called it “farcical” that numerical targets took precedence over checks and balances.

“Today's report illustrates a farcical situation in which hitting a numerical target of recruits has taken precedence over normal checks and balances.”

— Paula Dodds, Chairwoman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, quoted across multiple sources including ITV News and Sky News, January 2026

Since Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley took office in September 2022, the Met has sacked around 1,500 officers. The review stresses that while the majority of officers serve with integrity, these systemic failures had serious consequences—calling for unwavering focus on rigorous vetting to safeguard the public.

This scandal, layered on top of earlier high-profile failures in policing, serves as a stark reminder of the consequences when recruitment haste, resource constraints, and competing priorities like diversity targets undermine core standards. Restoring public confidence will require not only the ongoing reforms already underway, but also an uncompromising commitment to putting the safety of British citizens first, above all else.