(London) More than 1,000 bad apples were thrown outside police headquarters in London on Friday to expose the sex crimes of some officers, one of whom this week admitted to being a serial rapist.
After his confession, the “Met Police” had indicated on Monday that the files of 1,071 officers and agents who had been the subject of a report for domestic violence or alleged sexual violence in the past ten years, would be re-examined, to ensure that the appropriate decisions have been made.
The association for helping victims of domestic violence Refuge therefore decided to disperse 1,071 bad apples in front of police headquarters on Friday, as many as the number of police officers reported.
“We are told again and again that it is just a bad apple here and there, but it is actually a fundamental problem in the police,” denounced Ruth Davison, president of Refuge.
“It must be denounced now, because the lives of women are at stake,” said Ms.me Davison to AFP, calling for the suspension of any police officer accused of violence during the investigation.
This mobilization comes after a 48-year-old police officer pleaded guilty on Monday in a London court to 24 rapes and multiple sexual assaults against twelve women between 2003 and 2020. David Carrick, who terrorized his victims by highlighting his functions, has was fired Tuesday from the police.
The case was all the more shocking as it comes less than two years after the death of a 33-year-old Londoner, Sarah Everard, raped and killed by a police officer who arrested her on a false pretext in March 2021.
Wayne Couzens has since been sentenced to life in prison.
This crime has aggravated the crisis of confidence of Londoners towards Scotland Yard, accused of having ignored worrying signals about its behavior.
“Right now, as a woman or as a young girl, how can you, if you are assaulted, feel confident to go to the police knowing that the person you are talking to may be a predator? asked M.me Davison.
“I can’t believe that we are in a context where we tell our children that they are not necessarily safe if they approach the police,” she regretted.