London : London's Metropolitan Police Service dismissed officer David Carrick on Tuesday (local time) who admitted to 49 sex offences, including 24 counts of rape, over an 18-year period, reported CNN.
"His dismissal sparked calls for an inquiry into the United Kingdom's largest police service as questions mount over trust in the police. He was dismissed during a misconduct hearing on Tuesday morning, a press officer for the Met Police told CNN, adding that Carrick himself did not attend or have any legal representation at the hearing.
Word of Carrick's offences sent shockwaves throughout the country on Monday, with women's rights groups criticizing the Met Police's failure to intervene earlier. "This is an institution in crisis. That Carrick's pattern of egregious behaviour was known to the Met and they failed to act speaks more loudly than their empty promises to women," UK organization End Violence Against Women tweeted.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said someone like Carrick "should never have been a police officer," according to a readout of Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. Sunak acknowledged that the case has undermined "public confidence in the police" and stressed the need for "real change quickly. The prime minister called on the police force to "address the failings" that took place in the case and strive to "do everything possible to ensure women and girls are safe in their communities and homes," the readout added.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley issued an apology to Carrick's victims Monday, acknowledging that the force had let them down. "I do understand that this will lead to some women across London questioning whether they can trust the Met to keep them safe. We have failed," Rowley said in a clip posted on the Met Police official Twitter account.
A series of scandals in recent years has eroded public confidence in the force and prompted former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick to resign from her post in 2022. The force is now investigating as many as 1,000 sex offences and domestic abuse claims involving approximately 800 of its officers, Rowley admitted Monday. "We are going to turn all those stones over, we're going to come to the right conclusions and we'll be ruthless about rooting out those who corrupt our integrity. You have my absolute assurance on that," he said in an interview with UK media.
The offences mostly took place near where he lived in Hertfordshire, outside of London, and spanned a period of 18 years. During that time, he worked for the Metropolitan Police safeguarding diplomatic and parliamentary premises, reported euronews. Carrick met some of his victims through online dating sites, or in social situations, and used his job as a police officer to gain the trust of the women he went on to abuse. He admitted to raping women on multiple occasions, over months or years, with some of the attacks involving violence that would have left the women physically injured, reported euronews.
Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Barbara Gray told Britain's Sky News that they are "truly sorry" for missing opportunities to identify Carrick when numerous complaints were made about his conduct over the years. "He abused that power that he had as a police officer and used that to control the women who were his victims, and I'm so sorry that will have prolonged the suffering that those women will have had and I'm in awe of them coming forward now and seeing him to a successful conviction," said Gray. After initial guilty pleas in December, the Metropolitan Police stopped Carrick's salary and launched an accelerated misconduct process. (ANI)
