An independent reviewer is being called in to assess the culture and standards of the Met police following the murder of Sarah Everard.

Armed Met officer Wayne Couzens, 48, used his police issue handcuffs and warrant card to stage the fake arrest of 33-year-old Ms Everard before he raped and murdered her.

Dame Cressida Dick, commissioner of London's police force, said she will bring in a "prominent" individual to conduct the review.  

She said: “These events have been absolutely dreadful. I speak for my colleagues when I say we are furious.

News Shopper: Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick alongside police officers during a walkabout in Westminster (PA)Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick alongside police officers during a walkabout in Westminster (PA)

“We depend on the trust of the public, we police by consent and I know that public trust has been damaged.

“People are rightly gravely concerned about what they’ve seen and, as a consequence, today I’m announcing that we will have an independent person come in and review the Met in terms of its standards, and in terms of its culture, how we treat each other, and how we treat the public.

“Our leadership, our processes, our systems, our people, our training, everything will be looked at.

“This will be a fully transparent report, it will respond to me, but will, of course, make recommendations for changes, I’m sure, and those will be public.”

After the killing it emerged that the Couzens was known as “the rapist” by his former staff at Civil Nuclear Constabulary because he made female colleagues feel so uncomfortable.

He had been accused of indecent exposure in Kent in 2015 and in London and Swanley days before Ms Everard’s murder, but was allowed to continue working.

She plans to announce who will undertake the review, expected to take at least six months, in about a week’s time.

Responding to calls for her to resign over the Everard case, she said: “People will be entitled to their opinion, I’ve got a job to do, I’m getting on with it.

“My job now is to lead the Met through a difficult time and rebuild that public trust.”

Earlier, Boris Johnson told broadcasters in Manchester that there is now “a massive job” to do to restore women’s confidence in the police.

The Prime Minister said: “What we can certainly conclude from the Wayne Couzens case and what happened there is that there is a massive job of work to do to give women the confidence that they need.

“I want to be clear: I believe people should be confident in the police. I believe police officers, men and women up and down the country, will be absolutely sickened by what has happened, and they will be doing everything they can, and I know they do everything they can to help and reassure the public. So, it is vital that the public trust the police.

“But what we need to do is do some things to make the streets safer and we are investing massively in CCTV and street lighting and those sorts of things, but also make sure we change the culture of policing.”

He also called for crimes to be dealt with more quickly and for a boost in the recruitment of female police officers.

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