London Police's Standards, Internal Culture To Be Reviewed - Police Chief

London's Metropolitan Police chief, Cressida Dick, announced on Monday an investigation into the force's standards and internal culture following a life sentence handed to a serving police officer for the abduction, rape and murder of a woman in London

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th October, 2021) London's Metropolitan Police chief, Cressida Dick, announced on Monday an investigation into the force's standards and internal culture following a life sentence handed to a serving police officer for the abduction, rape and murder of a woman in London.

"Within a week I hope to announce a high profile figure will be appointed to lead a review of our professional standards and internal culture," the commissioner wrote in the Evening Standard newspaper.

The head of the Metropolitan Police said that the review will look "at our training, leadership, processes, systems and standards of behaviour, and examine cases where officers have let the public down."

"The Met is far from perfect. But I humbly ask you to consider that for every officer who lets us down there are thousands more whose commitment to you is undiminished," the police chief wrote in her article.

On Thursday, Wayne Couzens, who worked for the Metropolitan Police's parliamentary and diplomatic protection group, was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping, raping and killing Sarah Everard, 33, in a case that shocked the UK and prompted a debate over women's safety on the streets.

The victim disappeared on the evening of March 3 while walking home alone after visiting some friends in Clapham, south London. Her body was found hidden in a builder's bag in a woodland area in the town of Ashford, Kent, a week later.

Couzens was arrested at his home in the English county of Kent after CCTV footage linked his rental car with Everard's abduction. The police officer was charged with kidnapping and murdering the woman on March 12.

During the trial, the court heard how Couzens used his official warrant card to stop and kidnap Everard.

Dick, who admitted that the murder of Everard has corroded trust in the Metropolitan Police, has been facing growing calls to resign from both members of the public and lawmakers.