The Metropolitan Police hired over 1,000 officers without checking their references, with the loophole coming to light as part of an internal revamp of the force’s hiring policies.
It is understood that many of the new recruits into London’s police force were given the job following the 2021 kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in 2021.
Everard, who was just 33 at the time, was brutally murdered by then-serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens in Clapham, south London.
Against official guidance by the College of Policing, Clare Davies, the Met's human resources chief, decided in 2020 to waive reference checks or seek them retrospectively.
The Metropolitan Police hired over 1,000 officers without checking their references
GettyThe policy - which was installed when Boris Johnson’s Government called for an additional 20,000 recruits across the forces - is believed to have been in place for up to 18 months.
As part of the police “uplift” police programme, the Met hired 3,468 recruits, falling short of its 4,500 target.
Davies was later promoted by Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, and is now paid over £235,000 a year.
The trainees would have been vetted to see if they had any criminal links, and recruits were required to provide character references dating back three years.
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Sarah Everard was raped and killed by serving Met officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in south London on March 3 2021.HandoutHowever, once in the force, many of these reference checks “were swept under the carpet”, police sources said.
The policy only came to light during an examination of the Met’s hiring practice by Andy Valentine, a deputy assistant commissioner in charge of professional standards.
Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life order in September 2021 after pleading guilty to abducting, raping and murdering Everard.
He strangled the marketing executive with his police belt after kidnapping her under the guise of a fake arrest as she walked home.
An official report last year revealed damning failures by police who missed his history of sex offending which dates back almost 20 years.
Wayne CouzensHandout
Inquiry chairwoman Lady Elish Angiolini
PAThe inquiry, leader by Lady Elish Angiolini, found that there had been multiple missed impurities to stop Couzens, but none were taken.
Angiolini said that numerous “red flags about his unsuitability for office” went unnoticed, ultimately resulting in his murder of Everad thanks to his “powers and privileges” in the role.
She called for Aaradical overhaul of police vetting and recruitment as soon as possible.
She said: “Without a significant overhaul, there is nothing to stop another Couzens operating in plain sight.
“Now is the time for change,” she added, urging “all those in authority in every police force in the country to read this report and take immediate action”.
A separate review into the Met’s culture and standards conducted by Baroness Casey a year earlier described the force as institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.
