Sir Mark Rowley vows to ‘lift the stone’ – but says rooting out every unfit police officer could take years

Scotland Yard is battling its biggest corruption crisis since the 1970s, its commissioner has warned, as new evidence emerged of the widespread bungling of sexual and domestic abuse claims against officers.

The review of past allegations was triggered by the David Carrick scandal, where the force missed repeated clues that the Metropolitan police firearms officer was a threat to women, while he attacked at least 12 victims over a 20-year period, committing 85 serious crimes.

Checks on 10,000 of the Met’s 50,000 officers and staff against police databases showed 38 cases of possible misconduct and 55 cases of a potential association with a criminal, all of which will be investigated further.

Gross misconduct investigations, which can lead to sackings have risen 62% to 431, with such hearings taking less time to be held.

A total of 144 officers were suspended from duty, double that from September 2022, with 701 on restricted duties.

There has been a 70% increase in those dismissed – or leaving before they could be sacked – in the last six months.