London police were confronted by the sight of 1,071 plastic rotten apples outside their headquarters on Friday after New Scotland Yard said earlier this week that as many police forces had been under investigation following one of its officers’ admission of 24 counts of rape and a string of other sex offenses.
“We’ve been told time and time again that it’s just one bad apple here and there, but this is actually a fundamental problem right across policing,” said Ruth Davison, head of the domestic abuse charity Refuge, which organized the protest.
“It has to be called out now because women’s lives are at risk,” Davison added.
The Refuge CEO called for any officer facing formal allegations to be suspended while an investigation takes place.
“At the moment, as women and girls, how can we — if we experience a crime — feel confident to go the police knowing that the person we speak to maybe a perpetrator?” Davison said.
“How have these perpetrators of abuse been allowed to enter and remain in positions of power for so long?” she asked. “What happens next must change the culture of policing for good. A force which breeds violent misogyny is not a force which can even begin to protect women and girls.”
New Scotland Yard, which has over the past years faced a string of scandals linked to corruption, racism and misogyny, is Britain’s biggest police force with more than 43,000 staff and responsibility for issues such as terrorism and extradition.
Refuge has called for “urgent and radical change” and advocated for fast-track legislation to improve vetting and disciplinary standards across police forces and mandatory training for all officers on issues concerning violence against women.
David Carrick, formerly an armed officer in London’s Metropolitan Police force, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of rape, false imprisonment, and indecent assault before the capital’s Southwark Crown Court, making him one of Britain’s most prolific serial sex offenders. Carrick will be sentenced next month.
The protest outside New Scotland Yard came less than two years after another serving officer with the London force kidnapped, raped, and murdered a young woman, rocking public confidence in the police.
Both David Carrick, who pleaded guilty this week, and Wayne Couzens, who murdered Sarah Everard in 2021 and was jailed for life, served in the Met’s armed unit, protecting MPs and foreign diplomats.