Officers are ‘more and more hesitant’ to take motion in opposition to criminals

Police officers are becoming ‘increasingly hesitant’ to use their powers against criminals in case they face misconduct probes, the Met Police chief has claimed.

Sir Mark Rowley, the head of Britain’s biggest police force, said his staff were worried about using their powers because ‘the world could fall on top of me in an unfair way’.

Using the example of the officers who captured the man who carried out the Hainault sword rampage in April and allegedly killed a 14-year-old, Sir Mark believed those involved in the arrest ‘feared being investigated’.

He added that these concerns were causing challenges across the police network – with the number of stop and searches halving, a reduction in the use of physical force, and officers not applying for courses.

Speaking in front of the London Policing Board, Sir Mark said the Met was likely to be experiencing its lowest staffing levels in a decade by March next year – thanks to inadequate funding and low recruitment. 

Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) said his staff were worried about using their powers because ‘the world could fall on top of me in an unfair way’

Police carried out the Hainault sword rampage and allegedly killed a 14-year-old on April 30 

He also believed plans to reform the troubled force will have to slow as the Met faces a budget hole of £400 million in 2025/26.

He told the board: ‘One impact is officers increasingly hesitant and losing confidence to act and use their discretionary powers, which goes to their ability to protect the public.

‘We see that in the reduction of stop and search, staff surveys and other data. Sometimes these things are better brought to life by stories. Members will have seen the Hainault incident and that horrific incident with the sword.

‘I visited the injured officer in hospital, and a couple of days later the deputy commissioner went to the debrief of the team who were on duty that day and trying to process the horrific incident they were involved with.

‘What struck [Lynne Owens, the deputy commissioner] is the thing that dominated the early part of the conversation, the first thing on their mind was ‘are we going to be in trouble, are we going to be investigated for how it was dealt with’?

‘I think it’s extraordinary that people who faced something so traumatic … that the environment that’s created around policing is their first concern … is they are going to be in trouble and be investigated for facing down something so dangerous.’

In a report he prepared for the appearance, Sir Mark stated stop and searches had halved from almost 20,000 stops in January 2022, to slightly more than 9,000 in December last year.

His report also stated that frontline teams are being placed under ‘high operational strain’ by having to deal with large-scale protests in London, which cost £70 million last year, and there is increased demand for dealing with violence against women and girls.

Sir Mark stated stop and search had halved from almost 20,000 stops in January 2022, to slightly more than 9,000 in December last year (file image)

Frontline teams are being placed under ‘high operational strain’ by having to deal with large-scale protests in London (pictured), which cost £70 million last year

Sir Mark wrote: ‘By March 2025, there will be 310 police officers per 100,000 Londoners. In March 2012, this was at 350 police officers. This position is projected to worsen and trend towards our lowest point of the last decade.

‘This is being driven in part by inadequate funding and by low recruitment over recent years due to the rising cost of living in London relative to other parts of the UK, and other challenges.’ 

The Met was already 1,400 officers below a staffing target set by the Home Office at the end of 2023/24, and this is expected to drop a further 1,250 by the end of 2024/25.

Force bosses already have plans to move 300 officers out of back office roles in a bid to help plug the gap.

The report said an application for £70 million from the Home Office to release around 1,000 officers from desk jobs was refused.