Ten facing investigations into their handling of reports about David Carrick

We are investigating the conduct of ten current or former police officers and staff into how allegations of serial rapist David Carrick’s behaviour were handled.

We announced in July that we were using our rarely-used ‘power of initiative’ to call in and launch four probes into alleged failings by the MPS in investigating allegations made against Carrick in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2021.

Our investigations have been progressing and this month we have informed five serving Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers – a detective constable, detective sergeant, detective inspector and two chief inspectors – that they are under investigation for gross misconduct.

A former MPS officer, now at the City of London Police force, and two retired MPS officers – a former police constable and former superintendent – have also been advised they are under investigation for gross misconduct.

A serving MPS staff member and an MPS police constable have been advised they are under investigation for misconduct.

Misconduct notices have been served because we identified an indication these individuals may have potentially breached the police standards of professional behaviour by failing in their duty to adequately explore, investigate, supervise or oversee investigations into allegations made against David Carrick while he was a serving police officer. This does not necessarily mean that disciplinary proceedings will follow.

As part of the evidence-gathering process, our investigators have obtained and examined relevant documents and carefully reviewed the law, policies and guidance which were in place at the time.

IOPC regional director Mel Palmer said: “Our thoughts remain with all the women who were victims of David Carrick and reported this offending.

“After carrying out an initial scoping review of police handling of allegations against Carrick earlier this year, we made the decision to launch investigations into multiple alleged failings of police officers and staff who assessed and/or investigated allegations made against him.

“If these matters had been adequately progressed, Carrick could potentially have faced gross misconduct proceedings and been dismissed from the police service years before he was eventually arrested.

“While we’ve notified a number of officers that they are under investigation, this does not mean that disciplinary proceedings will automatically follow. At the end of each investigation, we will determine whether any individuals should face disciplinary proceedings.

“From our scoping review, we’ve also identified a number of learning opportunities for individual forces as well as national recommendations which we are currently progressing.”

We can also confirm that two officers have been served with notices of investigation as part of our ongoing investigation into concerns that Wiltshire Police failed to properly investigate a report made against Carrick in 2016.

A Wiltshire police constable and a second officer, who is now an inspector, have been served with gross misconduct notices.

This investigation began following a voluntary conduct referral from Wiltshire Police in July 2023.