Bad cops prey on the public – and their fellow officers. To stop them, we must break the culture of silence |
Last year, part one of Elish Angiolini’s government-commissioned inquiry into the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by Wayne Couzens, an off-duty police officer, considered how that outrage happened. The recently released part two of the Angiolini inquiry is just as devastating: a reminder of what happens when policing fails to face the harm in its own ranks. It confirms what the public already suspects, and many officers know: the predatory behaviour of Couzens and others like him doesn’t just slip through the cracks – it survives in the gaps created by weak supervision, flawed vetting and a culture in which silence feels safer than speaking up.
Policing’s greatest challenge is not crime, but a corrosive mindset shaped by relentless demand, inadequate leadership and structural weaknesses across a broken system. Unless we confront that truth with honesty and humility, we will fail both the public and those who serve them.
When I came to the UK from India 20 years ago, I was struck by the quiet authority of British policing – professional, restrained and rooted in consent. That early impression shaped my belief in what policing can and should be. Since then, I have seen policing at its best, but also the strain behind the uniform, and a culture that punishes reflection instead of learning from it. The findings of the Angiolini inquiry show........