Met Police to launch new initiative for officers to verify identity following Sarah Everard murder

The Metropolitan Police is to launch a new initiative to allow officers to verify their identity when approaching lone women, Cressida Dick has confirmed.

Speaking at City Hall on Wednesday, the Met commissioner told the police and crime committee she would be launching the “safe connection” initiative shortly which will allow plain clothes officers to verify themselves via a video call with a uniformed sergeant.

It comes amid concerns about the safety of women and girls who are approached by officers that may not be in uniform following the sentencing of Met officer Wayne Couzens last month for the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard.

The Met came under fire in the aftermath of the sentencing for suggesting women should “flag down a bus” if they felt unsafe when approached by an officer.

Despite originally defending the comments, Dick on Wednesday accepted that “the onus is on officers” to make women feel safe.

She said: “What I can say today is that we are launching our safe connection which allows a woman who is stopped by a police officer immediately to have verification that this is a police officer.

“My plain clothes officers will call into a control room, they will then have a video call with a sergeant in uniform who will say ‘yes, that is so and so, he is PC X,Y or Z’.”

The commissioner went on to say it would be a “quick, easy” way for an officer to reassure women and that it would be “instigated by the officer, not by a woman having to do this”.

Asked about the Met’s advice to “flag down a bus”, Dame Cressida said: “I completely understand why that ended up as the headline. It was not intended, and it is not how we see things.

“And yes, we have reviewed it. And we would address the question differently in the future.”

She went on to say “the problem here is men’s violence against women” and “the problem is not for the women”.

More details about the safe connection initiative will be released in due course.

Marketing manager Sarah Everard, 33, was snatched from the street in March by off-duty officer Wayne Couzens who flashed his warrant card.

He used Covid rules to convince Ms Everard to get into his car to kidnap her.

The cop went on to rape Ms Everard and then murdered her, before hiding her body in Kent woodland.

The case created a new focus on the safety of women and girls.

Since then numerous women have been killed in London, with the death of Sabina Nessa in Kidbrooke, Greenwich, creating real fear.