IOPC statement on Panorama programme about Charing Cross police station

IOPC director general Rachel Watson said:

“Like others, I am appalled by what Panorama has exposed – these behaviours are completely unacceptable and have no place in policing. I know there will be a great deal of concern from the public, many of whom will be feeling a loss of trust and confidence in the people whose job it is to protect them.  

“The IOPC is charged with independently investigating the most serious allegations of police misconduct and our investigation is already underway following the Met referring the matter to us.

“We have served gross misconduct notices on nine officers, one retired officer and a member of staff. One officer has also been informed they will be criminally investigated.

“We have also gathered, and are examining, a significant amount of CCTV footage from Charing Cross custody suite.  We hope that the BBC will now share their evidence with us to allow our work to progress at pace.

“I know the majority of hard-working police officers will feel let down by the behaviours we have seen. We are encouraging anyone with evidence which may support our investigations to come forward and contact us at 0300 303 5736 or by email [email protected]

“We will progress our investigation as quickly as possible so that, where appropriate, evidence can be presented to misconduct or criminal proceedings and the public can be assured that those who fail to meet the high standards we expect can be removed from the police service.”