Met Police offers ‘voluntary exit’ to senior officers resisting culture change ...Middle East

The Metropolitan Police is dramatically widening its efforts purge the force of officers deemed unsuitable for service by launching a pay-off scheme for senior ranks who are “not willing or able to change”.

Sir Mark Rowley, the embattled Met Commissioner, revealed the move in an uncompromising letter this week to all officers between the ranks of chief inspector and chief superintendent. In the memo obtained by The i Paper, Rowley said he wanted to provide an “exit route” for senior staff who were “not up for the challenge” or failing to reach the standards for his overhaul of Britain’s biggest police force.

The decision to put in place a “voluntary exit scheme” with “financial compensation” for some of the most experienced ranks in the Met has provoked dismay from some of those affected. One Yard superintendent told this paper that “morale was on the floor” in the force and suggested the Commissioner should consider joining his own exit scheme.

The Metropolitan Police Federation (MPF), which represents rank and file officers up to the rank of chief inspector, strongly criticised the letter – describing it is a “thinly veiled threat” against officers who give everything to meet “growing and complex demands.

Matt Cane, Secretary of the MPF, told The i Paper: “It sends a chilling message to dedicated professionals that, after years of loyal service, their futures may be decided not by performance, but by whether they conform to an increasingly narrow definition of what senior leadership “should look like.”

“The MPF will not stand by while our members are pressured or coerced out of the organisation under the guise of “efficiency” or “high standards.”

The memo has been issued after yet another a turbulent period for the Yard, including the revelation last month following an exposé by the BBC’s Panorama of allegations of racism, misogyny and excess force at Charing Cross police station in central London. Three officers have been sacked for gross misconduct.

1,500 officers and staff removed

This week it emerged that an internal Met report into how it deals with racism has found that harm inflicted on black people by the force is “institutionally defended”, with its leadership and culture tending to protect existing structures rather than impose real change. In response to the report, Rowley, who is three years into his five-year term, said its findings showed a need for “further systemic, structural, cultural change”.

Since 2022, the Met has removed some 1,500 officers and staff from their positions following misconduct investigations as part of its drive to raise standards.

The depth of the turmoil within the Met, which currently has about 46,000 officers and civilian staff, is laid bare by Rowley’s letter – entitled “Strengthening Leadership” – setting out his rationale for presenting senior ranks with an ultimatum over enforcing his ongoing shake-up.

It is understood by The i Paper that the memo, written jointly with Deputy Commissioner Matt Jukes, was sent to about 700 officers – both detectives and uniform staff – holding the ranks of chief inspector, superintendent and chief superintendent.

Rowley writes: “I have committed to provide an exit route for the small number of leaders amongst you that are not up for the challenge or continue to fail to reach the high standards our communities and our people deserve.”

‘This is not about punishment or reward’

The exit scheme, which will offer unspecified “financial compensation” for those at the affected ranks, will launch this month and those who are selected will leave from next May onwards.

Rowley continues: “This will allow a dignified exit for those with the self-awareness to realise that they are either not willing or able to change. This is not about either punishment or reward, but simply a recognition that our mission is too important to fail, we cannot succeed if our leaders are not fully committed to this challenge.”

The letter makes clear that the Met expects the majority of those receiving the memo to remain in post and benefit from a promise of “the support and training that will allow you to thrive and build your own career”.

The memo also makes clear that the Commissioner is seeking powers to go further in his campaign to recast the Met as a force equipped to police what he has described as a “unique global city”.

Under existing legislation, police officers cannot be made redundant or forced from their jobs other than if they are deemed to have committed misconduct worthy of dismissal.

However, The Yard has approached the Home Office to seek a change to police regulations to reinstate a power allowing forces to require an officer’s compulsory retirement “on grounds of efficiency”. In the letter, Rowley added: “It is too early to say whether we will be supported [by the Home Office] for such changes.”

‘Morale is on the floor’

The 61-year-old Commissioner faces a difficult task in trying to reform a force which has been beset by allegations that it is institutionally racist since the failures surrounding the murder of Stephen Lawrence three decades ago, and more recently faced a fresh crisis in public confidence sparked by the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, a serving Met firearms officer.

In 2023, a landmark review by Baroness Casey found the force was institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic, and could “no longer presume that it has the permission of the people of London to police them”.

Rowley, who has declined to use those labels for the force, has vowed to win back that trust and says the Met’s performance data shows it is beginning to do so. Speaking last month, he said: “We have long-term systemic issues that cause bias in the organisation, which effect levels of racism, disproportionality and misogyny and that’s what we’re tackling.”

However, officers who received the letter from the Commissioner and his deputy this week spoke of their anger at being confronted with what they described as a “my way or the highway” ultimatum.

One serving superintendent said: “Morale stems from good leadership and it is an understatement to say that morale is on the floor in the Met. My colleagues and I are equally dismayed at this latest initiative and confused as to what Sir Mark and Mr Jukes wish to achieve. Leadership starts at the top, so perhaps they would like to a good long hard look in the mirror.”

The Metropolitan Police were approached for comment.

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