Officers failed to identify him
It seems the police had plenty of hints about Wayne Couzens but didn’t act on them.
The Guardian understands that an investigation into Couzens’s phone, which was seized after he was arrested for the attack on Everard, revealed he was part of a WhatsApp group involving police officers now under investigation over alleged misogynistic, racist and homophobic messages, sources say.
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New details of previous indecent exposure claims against Couzens emerged on Thursday. A man was accused of being naked from the waist down in a car in Kent in 2015, and of twice exposing himself at a London McDonald’s days before the murder, with details of cars linked to Couzens in both instances passed to police.
A simple registration plate check, available to police on systems belonging to the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency, could have linked Couzens to alleged offending, but officers failed to identify him, the Met assistant commissioner Nick Ephgrave confirmed, and no action was taken before Everard’s murder.
The thing about that is, it’s easy to say they should have acted now that we know what he did, but it wouldn’t have been that easy before he did it. It’s hard to remember to adjust for that “they didn’t know then” piece of the story. I had to keep nudging myself as I read, to remember that they didn’t know what he was going to do before he did it, so the pants off wasn’t the Obvious Flag then that it is now. But that’s not to say it isn’t a damn good reason to do something about the pants off cop. Do we want sex creep guys as cops? No. Laurie Penny would say just don’t look, but that’s not adequate.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating whether chances were missed by Kent in 2015 and the Met days before the murder of Everard, to identify Couzens as a threat to women.
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The victims commissioner for England and Wales, Dame Vera Baird, told the Guardian that chances had been missed. “He was accused of flashing when he was in Kent and nothing came of that and three days before he murdered Sarah, he was accused of flashing again,” she said.
“Where was the red flag that should have gone up after these incidents? Surely better notice should have been taken of that. There should have been an intervention. If he were arrested for that, the chances are he wouldn’t have been able to do what he did.”
Well, the police have an awful lot of transphobia to worry about these days, it keeps them busy.
I don’t know why they’re bothering with this, there’s no transphobia mentioned.
Michael,
This makes your point rather well: https://twitter.com/andrewlawrence/status/1443871716103671816
Ophelia,
I know what you mean about the they didn’t know that thing, but his colleagues certainly knew there was something going on with him. His male colleagues who gave him the so hilarious nickname “The Rapist” knew it. The ones who sent him “grossly offensive material” knew it. Don’t tell me he didn’t brag about his exposing himself to some of his male colleagues, too.
And I’m damn sure his female colleagues knew it. Some of them told reporters that they had concerns about the behaviour and attitude of some of the male officers there (I don’t know whether he was mentioned specifically) and that they didn’t feel as though they could report it.
So you’re right, but there were still more than enough red flags among the officers that warranted attention.
And while much fault lies with the police, I’m afraid the most significant thing all those problem officers have in common is not that they are police officers, but that they are men. If I see one more male Twitter expert express sorrow at the violence but deny any responsibility…
@latsot – I’m not sure if in the UK the whole “Blue Lives Matter” issue works the same way as here in the States, but we are constantly reminded that their jobs are dangerous and they see things that us civilians never see so they get leeway for bad behavior and bullying because when the bad guys come for us, who else you gonna call? Hell’s Angels?
So, they get to be smartasses when they come to your window after a highway stop, they get to turn off their body cams before “questioning” a suspect at the roadside, they get away with raping women on the way to the station, they get away with murder if they think that someone pulled out a gun. If they need to “blow off steam” by sharing dirty phoios or showing off their dick, remember that we have to give them deference for the greater good because they are protecting the fuck out of us.
Watching the watchers is not allowed.
The Met haven’t even suspended the officers who were in that WhatsApp group, unlike the other police forces with members in it.
The whole barrel is rotten.
Michael, I don’t know about the UK either, but one thing I do know is that the job of roofer is much more dangerous than that of police, and we don’t see anyone worried about roofers and how dangerous their job is. Police are actually reasonably far down on the list of dangerous jobs, but you wouldn’t know that from listening to the people around here going on about blue lives matter.