On 22 November 2011, the then Home Secretary, the Rt Hon. Priti Patel, appointed the Rt Hon. Lady Elish Angiolini to chair the Angiolini Inquiry. Part 1 of the Report was published on 29 November 2024 with key findings and recommendations in the aftermath of the premeditated murder of Sarah Everard.
Background
On 3 March 2021, Sarah Everard was walking home on a busy London Street when she was abducted, and then raped and murdered, by Wayne Couzens, an off-duty Police Officer serving with the Metropolitan Police Force.
This occurred during the pandemic, and it was believed that because Couzens was a Police Officer and presented himself to Ms Everard as a plain clothes officer, he was able to falsely arrest and abduct her under the guise that she had broken lockdown rules.
Part 1 of the Report looks back on many years before the crimes for which Couzens was sentenced to a whole-life sentence on 30 September 2021, and issues around Police vetting and the poor availability of information between Police Forces which led to missed opportunities and preventative measures.
Information sharing
The recommendations made in the report were informed by evidence considered by the Inquiry and the conclusions reached from the evidence.
In the years leading up to the murder of Ms Everard, Couzens had demonstrated a history of sexual offending which included indecently exposing himself whilst employed by the Kent Police and Civil Nuclear Constabulary. However, due to poor vetting processes and information sharing policies between forces, this information was not disclosed. This meant Couzens was able to obtain employment with the Metropolitan Police in 2018.
Recommendation 11 in Part 1 of the Report is that by December 2024, the College of Policing, in collaboration with force vetting and recruitment units, should ensure that information-sharing practices, including data retention policies, are strengthened to prevent those who commit sexually motivated crimes against women and those otherwise unsuitable for policing from remaining in, or moving across, the policing profession. There should be a focus on the following information:
- Previous failures to achieve vetting should be recorded by all forces and flagged to recruiting forces. This should also trigger a re-vet with the current or recruiting force.
- A shared agreement should be made about the quality, relevant and necessary content, and sources of information that will be provided in reference for a future force, also known as a ‘shared referencing protocol’ with directed questions that must be answered (for example, regarding any past disciplinary or honesty/integrity issues).
Information Commissioner John Edwards from the ICO, who contributed to the inquiry, said:
“This inquiry paints a concerning picture of how disciplinary concerns about police officers and recruits are shared. There is no rooms to hide behind misconceptions of the law on such an important matter: data protection law does not stand in the way of police sharing information about a potential recruit’s previous disciplinary action or warnings, nor does it act as a shield against investigations into police officers.
“There is a need for greater transparency here. The public have a right to understand how information will be shared to encourage trust in high standards of policing, and police officers have a right to understand how their information will be shared.
“We’ll continue working with the police to make sure data protection law, and the data sharing it allows, is clearly understood and works to serve and protect the best interest of the people of the UK.”
Recommendation 12 discussed the Right to Privacy, with the report stating that with immediate effect, Police Forces should convey to all existing and prospective Officers and staff that they must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. These circumstances include, but are not limited to recruitment vetting, aftercare, transfer, promotion, role change, returning to policing and maintaining standards.
Comment
The devastating and senseless murder of Sarah Everard led to discussions across the country regarding policing, violence against women and sexual offending to name a few. The Angiolini Inquiry has highlighted key recommendations when it comes to the sharing of information and Rights to Privacy in Police Forces. However, one thing that is clear is that better information sharing processes need to be implemented for those recruited into the Police to better safeguard the public going forward.
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