The news that serving Met Police officer David Carrick has pleaded guilty to 49 sexual offences against women spanning more than two decades took me back to Leeds, 1981. My feminist group was aghast at the news that a young woman we knew had been raped in the back of a police van, but had been kicked out of the police station when she tried to report the crime – rather than being treated as a victim.
What has changed in the four decades since then? As a feminist campaigner who has worked alongside police officers to share knowledge and expertise regarding sexual assault and domestic abuse, I can’t help but wonder if we have gone backwards in recent years.
Carrick was on the same elite squad in the Met as Wayne Couzens and had access to a firearm. A number of women accused him of rape and domestic abuse over the years, but no action was taken. Carrick passed the vetting procedure to join the squad in 2001, despite two allegations against him.
In July 2021, Carrick was arrested for rape. The victim came forward shortly after Couzens admitted to the murder of Sarah Everard. Carrick was not suspended, and nor was his gun taken from him. He was instead placed on restricted duties. He continued to be a police officer and continued to offend.
Five members of the public had made allegations against him and his colleagues were well aware of his vile, misogynistic views towards women – hence his nickname, ‘Bastard Dave’. Carrick’s colleague, Couzens, was known as ‘The Rapist’ by other Met officers.
The warning signs have been lit in neon for some time; there can be no more excuses or warm words of ‘lessons learned’
This behaviour has been allowed to exist and develop unchallenged within the Met – and the police service generally – for decades. In my view, many senior police officers don’t really care about the victims of rape and domestic violence, which is why so many male police officers feel doubly invincible. Indeed, a former partner of Carrick’s yesterday told the Sun that he bragged to her that his position made him ‘untouchable’.
These men do not display any physical signs, such as horns or blood-red eyes, that would serve as a warning to potential victims. If we continue to look for freaks and ghouls, we will let the vast majority of violence against women and girls go unnoticed and unpunished. During the hunt for the killers of the two little girls in Soham, back in 2002, the police and public were looking for a monster. When Ian Huntley, a perfectly ordinary, presentable man was charged with the murder of these children, many locals declared that he was ‘not a Soham man’. But dangerous sex offenders are hiding in plain sight – including among those charged with protecting us.
There will be no change without accountability. Police officers such as Carrick will continue to act with impunity and further inflict pain and damage to women. We must hold all criminal justice agencies to account for their failures, and support the Centre for Women’s Justice in its efforts to expose the true extent and nature of the problem. The pressure group Police Me Too has been campaigning for police accountability, as has the support group Police Spies out of Lives, which is formed of women who have been targeted and sexually exploited by undercover cops.
The police officers who ignored the nine women who reported being raped by Carrick between 2000 and 2021 are complicit in these crimes and should be sacked. No wonder public confidence in the police is at an all-time low. Feminists have been shouting about the deep-rooted misogynistic culture in policing for decades. The warning signs have been lit in neon for some time; there can be no more excuses or warm words of ‘lessons learned’.
I was incandescent with rage when hearing on a radio discussion yesterday that, apparently, ‘what we need is more police training to recognise signs of abuse’. We are talking about a police service that is responsible for preventing and detecting criminals. Hundreds and thousands of hours have been devoted to training officers from probationary to senior rank, and here we still are.
What we need is a system where women are enabled to report crimes against police officers without fear of reprisal or ridicule. It is vital that an independent reporting and investigation mechanism is put in place so that colleagues can’t decide to protect the perpetrators. It is also crucial to have a proper whistleblowing mechanism for serving officers so that when misogynistic and problematic behaviours are displayed, the ones presenting them can be held accountable.
Carrick flashed his warrant card to persuade one victim that he was not a threat, just as Couzens did when he abducted Everard. How many more use this as a handy prop? Currently, there are 800 male officers being investigated for 1,000 reported offences. There is no point talking about ‘bad cops’. What we need is a total overhaul of a deeply rotten system.
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