The Metropolitan Police Federation has released a statement following HMICFRS findings that the Metropolitan Police ‘acted appropriately’ at the Sarah Everard vigil.
In the report, Matt Parr, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, who led the inspection team, said:
“On behalf of everyone who worked on this inspection, I send our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Sarah Everard, who have suffered an unimaginable tragedy.
“Amidst a heightened public debate on women’s safety, and during an unprecedented pandemic, the Metropolitan Police faced a complex and sensitive policing challenge at Clapham Common.
“Condemnation of the Met’s actions within mere hours of the vigil – including from people in positions of responsibility – was unwarranted, showed a lack of respect for public servants facing a complex situation, and undermined public confidence in policing based on very limited evidence.
“After reviewing a huge body of evidence – rather than a snapshot on social media – we found that there are some things the Met could have done better, but we saw nothing to suggest police officers acted in anything but a measured and proportionate way in challenging circumstances.
“A minute’s silence was held for Sarah at 6pm, after which a peaceful and sombre vigil turned into something else – a rally with dense crowds and little or no social distancing. We concluded that the Met was right to recognise the need to be seen to be consistent in its policing of all events and gatherings. They were, therefore, right to enforce the regulations – having gone to some lengths to persuade people to disperse.”
Responding to the report, Ken Marsh, Chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said:
“The outcome of this report comes as no surprise. We said on the very evening that politicians of all parties should make themselves aware of all the facts before rushing to judgement and making statements.
“But these armchair critics on their Saturday night sofas did not.
“The knee-jerk commentary from politicians of all parties – who as the report states were reacting to a snapshot on social media rather than the facts – has made the already difficult job of our colleagues in London incredibly harder. And more dangerous. And for that these people should be ashamed.
“As the independent report states: ‘Condemnation of the Met’s actions within mere hours of the vigil – including from people in positions of responsibility – was unwarranted, showed a lack of respect for public servants facing a complex situation, and undermined public confidence in policing based on very limited evidence.’
“We could not have said it better ourselves. This was outrageous behaviour from those who should know better and we trust as elected officials and we now call on these politicians to make themselves accountable and to apologise to our hard-working colleagues for the damage they have done.”
Ken concluded: “The thoughts of the Metropolitan Police Federation remain with the family and friends of Sarah Everard.”
If you have the Google News app on your phone, don’t forget to follow ‘Emergency Services News’.
Got a story? Send your videos and pictures to contact@emergency-services.news You can also find us on Twitter @ES_News_
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
