The Metropolitan Police is failing in almost all of its areas of work, the police inspectorate said.

The police were assessed in nine areas and were classified as “in need of improvement” or “inadequate” in seven of them – including crime detection and prevention.

British police inspector Lee Freeman said many changes had already been made, but they had not yet led to “consistent improvements”.

The police said they were “using every available resource to ensure greater trust, less crime and high standards.”

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspected the force for the period 2023-25.

Mr Freeman emphasised:

• The Met was “inconsistent” in its treatment of sex offenders, with some teams experiencing a backlog of visits and risk assessments
• More needs to be done to ensure that all emergency calls to 999 and 101 “have a consistent assessment of the level of risk” when considering a response.
• The police have not achieved their goal of reducing the number of still unidentified suspects.
• There are “significant problems with the standards of investigation, victim care and investigation management” in the Met’s Victims Service, and “some crimes involving vulnerable people are not investigated by appropriately trained investigators”.

Mr Freeman said the Met was undergoing a “significant” transformation and that “many changes have already been made” but that these had not yet translated into consistent and sustainable improvements in certain key areas.

“Consequently, I have serious concerns about the way the police currently investigate crimes and deal with offenders and suspects,” he said.

“I am also concerned about how the police prevent and reduce crime and provide an effective service to victims.”

Other findings included problems arising from a lack of training among investigating officers, including in dealing with suspects and offenders of sexual offences, as well as inexperienced officers “attempting to handle heavy workloads beyond their training and knowledge”.

It said the Met had told the regulator that almost one in five (18%) of visits to sex offenders were overdue.

Because of the police culture, “some officers and staff are reluctant to speak out about bad behavior,” the report continues.

Concerns have also been raised about the Met’s proposals to scale back its reform plans due to a £92 million funding gap for 2024-25.

“It poses a significant risk to the force’s ability and capacity to implement the necessary improvements,” the inspection said.

Nevertheless, HMICFRS praised the police’s use of stop-and-search measures, saying they were “both fair and effective” and that “the vast majority of reasons recorded for them were reasonable”.

Juliana Terlizzi from southwest London, who waived her right to anonymity after being drugged and raped by her then-boyfriend in 2020, said she “welcomed” the results.

“For me and other survivors of rape and serious sexual crimes, this is nothing new based on our experiences,” she said.

However, she added: “It is provocative to hear the same statements about the Met over and over again, and even more so the promises of improvements.”

She claimed the “fundamental problem” of corruption among officers “remains” and if the police “want to restore public confidence, they must demonstrate that misogyny, racism and any kind of predatory behaviour within the police force will not be tolerated and invest in appropriate training.”

“Until they start taking complaints seriously and identifying and dismissing unfit officers, the Met will continue to fail victims,” ​​she said.

Mr Freeman told BBC Radio London he was sure the police were “disappointed” with some of the reviews, but that improving the situation was “a work in progress”.

“I think the public should be assured that the police know what is going on and that they have a plan to deal with it. But the next step now, of course, is to consistently implement that plan,” he said.

He added that “much more needs to be done” to ensure that the impact of many of the changes “is seen and felt by victims and communities across London”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was using “all available tools to increase trust, reduce crime and ensure high standards in London” and the report “underlines why this ongoing reform is necessary”.

“We are now reflecting carefully on the findings, the essence of which reflects our plans for ‘A New Met for London’ and the information we have given to HMIC,” they added.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, welcomed the report and agreed with its findings, but expressed “confidence” that Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley could “turn the situation around”.

“We still have a long way to go, but we are on the right track,” he said.