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1,071 police officers under probe over sex harassment, domestic violence

British Metropolitan Police will institute an investigative team to probe a total of 1,633 sex offences and domestic abuse cases involving 1,071 officers in the last 10 years.

The decision to probe the cases emerged after it was discovered that officer David Carrick, turned out to be a serial rapist.

Reports on Monday said that Carrick pleaded guilty to dozens of rape charges as he used dating sites like Badoo and Tinder to meet his victims.

The cases are now subject to urgent scrutiny after it emerged the 48-year-old Carrick was allowed to remain in the Met despite being accused of rape, assault, harassment, domestic abuse and burglary.

The force said yesterday the allegations range from arguments to rape – and many of those involved continue to serve without restrictions.

In each case, the individual has not been charged or subject to a misconduct hearing.

End Violence Against Women Coalition director Andrea Simon said: “This is an institution in crisis.

“That Carrick’s horrific pattern of egregious behaviour was known to the Met and they failed to take appropriate action demonstrates just how broken the systems which are supposed to keep the public safe from perpetrators of rape and abuse are.

“This case is a horrendous example of police failures and their complete lack of oversight and accountability.

“The police are clearly incapable of identifying perpetrators in their midst, even when they exhibit textbook patterns of predatory behaviour.”

The cases are understood to include that of a serving Police Constable previously accused of a sexual assault who was last year held on suspicion of groping a female colleague in a police station.

The officer, in his 40s, was released under investigation after he was arrested in June when the woman reported being grabbed while on duty.

A woman also accused him of sexual assault in 2011, the Met said, but the Serious Crime Directorate found the case “failed to meet the evidential threshold”.

The cases are endless in the system and should be addressed as they are already getting out of hand.

Concerns have also been raised nationally about how forces deal with allegations of domestic abuse.

Michael Parker, a North Yorkshire Police officer, was jailed last October for five years for subjecting a colleague he was in a relationship with to controlling or coercive behaviour.

The report showed that a total of 1,080 out of 1,319 police and staff reported for the offence in a three-year period were still working.

Only 36, or 2.7%, were sacked, while 203 resigned or left the police.

And the findings came after a report last year found hundreds of Met officers have been getting away with law-breaking and misconduct.

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has said he believes hundreds of corrupt officers are serving within the Met and should be sacked.

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