THE Metropolitan Police have never been far from the headlines recently. Met Commissioner Cressida Dick stood down after London Mayor Sadiq Khan expressed his displeasure at her performance.

There have been a series of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman, the subsequent mishandling of a peaceful demonstration concerning her death, the poor investigation and subsequent promotion of some of the officers involved concerning the Stephen Port case and the taking and circulation of pictures taken of two dead young women by police officers.

In the Port case the Met has been accused of institutional homophobia over the investigation of the murders of four men. Seventeen officers from the case were cleared of misconduct, whilst seven have been promoted.