Police contact and welfare concerns with man - Metropolitan Police Service, October 2021

During the early morning hours of Thursday 21 October 2021, a man made two 999 calls to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). During the first call, the man reported the believed theft of items from his home. The man stated he believed the items had been taken from his home two months before his call but he now suspected one of his neighbours may have the items. The man’s call was classified as a report of burglary. The man was told his crime report would be passed to an investigative team and that someone from the team would contact him later the same day. Approximately five hours after the first call, the man made a second 999 call. During the second call the man did not provide any personal information and appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis. The man ended the call after approximately one minute. 

Despite not giving any information about himself, the two calls were linked to the man as he had used the same telephone number on both occasions. As the man appeared to need help with his mental health, an ambulance attended the man’s home where he declined any further help. The man’s burglary report was reviewed by the investigative team but, based on police intelligence indicating he was a vulnerable person as well as the content of the second emergency call he had made, the investigation team decided man should be visited in person by a police officer. 

Between Friday 22 October and Monday 1 November, the police control centre made multiple attempts were made to get back in contact with the man via telephone. On each occasion, the man’s phone did not ring and gave an ‘engaged’ sound. Additionally, on 22 October, an officer attempted to speak to the man in person but received no answer at his home. Alongside the attempts of the control centre, the man’s crime report was allocated to a local police officer. This officer did not speak with or attempt to visit the man during the period 22 October – 31 October. 

On Monday 1 November two different police officers visited the man’s home, as his burglary report was still open and required police attendance. The officers were unable to make contact with the man and believed he may be deceased inside his home.  Once the officers gained entry, they found his body inside the home.  

Our investigation considered the contact police contact with the man including the two 999 calls he made and the time between his last contact with the police and the discover of his body 12 days later. During the investigation we obtained witness statements from the two call handling staff who dealt with the man’s calls to police. In addition, the two officers who decided to force entry to the man’s home on 1 November and the officer who had been allocated the man’s crime report provided witness statements explaining their actions. Body worn video footage from the officer who tried to visit the man on 22 October as well as the officers who forced entry on 1 November was obtained and reviewed alongside copies of police incident logs, the crime report and audio recordings of the man’s calls to police. The available evidence was analysed against legislation as well as MPS policies and guidance.

We identified a performance matter for one officer and the officer was to be referred to the reflective practice review process to address the concern.

We carefully considered whether there were any learning opportunities arising from the investigation. We make learning recommendations to improve policing and public

confidence in the police complaints system and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. 

In this case, the investigation has not identified any learning.