Suspend officers accused of abusing women - charity

Sarah Everard was killed by serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021

A women's charity has called for all police officers and staff accused of violence against women and girls to be automatically suspended while claims are investigated.

Delivering a petition containing more than 50,000 signatures to 10 Downing Street, the charity Refuge, which supports victims of domestic abuse, said it was "deeply shocking" police staff were not removed from work while they were investigated.

The document was taken to Westminster a year on from the damning review by Baroness Louise Casey, which found the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic.

The Home Office said all officers charged with serious offences that are being dealt with by crown courts are already suspended from duty.

Under current procedures, there is no obligation for police forces to suspend officers or staff being investigated for allegations of violence against women and girls.

The charity's interim chief executive, Abigail Ampofo, said it was "deeply shocking" that "it is not currently mandatory for police officers and staff to be suspended, pending investigation".

"In any other profession, suspension would be the norm, as would frequent vetting, so what makes policing any different?" she added.

"As an institution who are supposed to protect the public from harm, the police should be held to the highest of standards and any allegations of abuse against officers should be treated with the utmost seriousness."

She called on the government to implement reforms across all police forces to help restore women's trust in policing.

Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life term and will never be freed

In response, the Home Office announced that all officers charged with indictable offences - the most serious crimes that can only be dealt with by crown courts - are automatically suspended from duty.

However, this does not include offences such as indecent exposure, with police chiefs having the power to decide whether to suspend officers in those cases.

The move also does not extend to police staff, and only applies once criminal charges have been brought.

According to Refuge, about a quarter of police officers and staff facing such accusations were suspended from duty last year while the claims were investigated.

It obtained the data from 26 forces in England and Wales under the Freedom of Information Act.

Earlier this month an inquiry by Lady Elish Angiolini found that a series of red flags were missed about Wayne Couzens before he went on to murder Sarah Everard.