"Scotland Yard is urgently making checks on whether it bungled the vetting of hundreds of officers after concerns they may have used inadequate measures when hiring them to see if they posed a criminal risk. About 300 new recruits may have had substandard or no vetting to see if they had criminal convictions, cautions or criminal associations and whether their integrity was at risk because of debt."
"The concerns centre on the recruitment the Met carried out between 2016 and 2023. The bulk of the recruitment happened during the police uplift programme under the last government, from 2020 to 2023. The Conservatives, having cut police staffing by 20,000 officers since 2010, then decided to hire 20,000 new officers in three years, putting forces under pressure to recruit large numbers in a hurry."
"The potential error was picked up by the force itself earlier this year and has not been made public yet. The Met confirmed to the Guardian that it is urgently revetting recruits whose appointment may have followed defective vetting. Those within their two-year probation period would be easier to dismiss than those who have passed their probationary period and have full rights."
The Metropolitan Police is carrying out an internal review after identifying potential defective vetting affecting about 300 recruits hired between 2016 and 2023. Most recruitment occurred during the 2020–23 police uplift programme, which aimed to add 20,000 officers quickly after prior staffing cuts. The force picked up the potential error earlier this year and has begun urgent revetting of appointments that may have followed inadequate checks. Officials are considering ordering external investigations by the Independent Office for Police Conduct or His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary. Recruits still in their two-year probation are easier to dismiss; other forces may have made similar errors.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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