Met Police officers used force on women who said they were PREGNANT
Met Police officers used force on women who said they were PREGNANT more than 2,500 times over three years, figures reveal
- Metropolitan Police regularly uses force on women who say they are pregnant
- Out of 4,117 total arrests of possibly pregnant women, 2,566 were forceful
- On three occasions women who claimed to be pregnant were Tasered
- Comes as Sadiq Khan said Cressida Dick could be ousted within days
The Metropolitan Police has used force on women who claimed to be pregnant 2,556 times in the last three years.
Force could include compliant handcuffing, the drawing of a baton, the use of dogs, irritant spray, body restraints, spit hoods and Tasers.
On three occasions women who claimed to be pregnant were Tasered, according to the results of an ITV News Freedom of Information request.
The force said it could not confirm whether they were told the women could be pregnant before or after their arrests, but more than half of the 4,117 total detentions of possibly pregnant women involved the use of force.
Force is supposed to be reserved only for the most serious cases of resisting arrest.
It comes after Sadiq Khan revealed Cressida Dick could be ousted within days if she doesn’t tackle ‘shattered’ confidence in Scotland Yard amid claims of a culture of misogyny.
Elsewhere, Britain’s fourth largest force, West Yorkshire Police, said it arrested 757 women who claimed to be pregnant on a risk assessment form – and of those force or restraint was used 470 times in last three years.
The Metropolitan Police has used incapacitant spray or force on women who claimed to be pregnant 2,556 times in the last three years (file image)
A series of Freedom of Information requests revealed at least 3,818 women who claimed to be pregnant were arrested in 15 other UK regions between January 2018 and June 2021. Of these, 275 had force used against them.
The women’s actual pregnancy status was not medically verified on the custody risk assessment forms – so it is not known whether all the women were telling the truth.
The youngest was a 12-year-old girl who told officers she was expecting a baby when she was forcibly arrested by the Metropolitan Police in 2020.
An undisclosed restraint method was also used on a self-described pregnant girl, 13, in 2018 and a 14-year-old girl in 2019.
A Met spokesperson said: ‘On occasion there may be instances where an officer finds themselves in a position of having to use force on someone who is of a young age. Any such use is accountable by the officer in law.’
In Kent, one woman was seven months pregnant when a restraint belt – which is put on the ankle and below the knee – was used on her during arrest.
Assistant Chief Constable Nicola Faulconbridge, from Kent Police, said: ‘After coming to a stop at a dead end, the driver is reported to have refused to exit the vehicle which had allegedly previously failed to stop, before assaulting an attending officer.
Cressida Dick (pictured today) struck a defiant tone following repeated calls for her to quit, in addition to the Mayor of London’s decision to put her ‘on notice’ with ‘a matter of days and weeks’ to enact major changes
‘It was determined that using an incapacitant spray was the safest way to bring her under control, as a physical struggle provided a greater risk of an injury being sustained.’
Kent Police said the use of force came before the detainees described themselves as pregnant.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Use of force is only used when absolutely necessary to do so and the health and welfare of any person arrested or detained in custody is considered before and during any application of force.
‘Officers are trained to use the minimum level of force required to resolve an incident quickly and efficiently. Officers are accountable for ensuring the use of force is lawful and proportionate to ensure the public and themselves are protected from harm.
‘Officers will be guided by the disclosure of any information given whereby additional support or considerations need to be made.
‘All women brought into custody are also allocated with a specific female police officer or detention officer who can assist with issues or provide additional support.
‘West Yorkshire Police receive thousands of calls for service every day and in a vast amount of those incidents’ officers are not required to use force.’
College of Policing guidance claims officers should choose the most appropriate method of restraint when aware of pregnancy.
Campaigners have highlighted research by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System which found thousands of women are being needlessly arrested before being released without charge.
On three occasions women who claimed to be pregnant were Tasered, according to the results of an ITV News Freedom of Information request (file image)
Naomi Delap, Director of Birth Companions, a charity specialising in the experiences of pregnant women in the criminal justice system, said: ‘The application of the current College of Policing guidance on limiting the use of force where a woman makes a declaration that she is pregnant should also be reviewed, with consideration given to whether this should make specific reference to the use of spit hoods and Tasers in these situations.’
MailOnline has contacted Met Police and Kent Police for comment.
Meanwhile, Cressida Dick today said she had ‘no intention of going’ and claimed to be ‘leading a real transformation’ at the Met – as she took a shot at Sadiq Khan by claiming he had recently told her he’s ‘never had more confidence’ in the force.
The under-fire Commissioner struck a defiant tone following repeated calls for her to quit, in addition to the Mayor of London’s decision to put her ‘on notice’ with ‘a matter of days and weeks’ to enact major changes.
The Mayor of London loaded yet more pressure onto Cressida Dick yesterday by giving her ‘days and weeks’ to turn the Met around
Asked on BBC Radio London about her future, she said: ‘I have absolutely no intention of going and I believe that I am and have been, actually for the last five years, leading a real transformation in the Met.
‘We have a service now which is, I’m absolutely certain, more professional, fairer, more transparent, more accountable and closer to its communities and more effective in, for example, reducing violent crime, which has been going down year on year on year in almost every category, bucking the national trends.’
Yesterday, Mr Khan told of his dismay that nine out of 14 officers criticised in the watchdog probe into sickening racism and sexism at Charing Cross police station were still in their jobs – with two promoted.
Dame Cressida told the BBC she was ‘seeing angry’ about the scandal, adding: ‘I’m very glad that the four individuals have left.
‘There is no place in the Met for sexism or racism or homophobia, for abuse of trust or for bullying, and in the last few days I have gone out extremely strongly to my colleagues and told them enough is enough.
‘This is a fantastic police service. It is hugely capable in so many ways, but its reputation has been tarnished by the awful things that you were hearing about there in relation to the impact team at Charing Cross and also, some other awful things have happened and come to light in the last several months.’
She added she was ‘absolutely determined’ in ‘rooting out’ similar officers and said any who held those views should ‘get out now’.
String of disasters at the Met under Dame Cressida’s watch
April 2017: Appointed as first female Metropolitan Police commissioner with a brief to modernise the force and keep it out of the headlines.
April 2019: Extinction Rebellion protesters bring London to a standstill over several days with the Met powerless to prevent the chaos. Dame Cressida says the numbers involved were far greater than expected and used new tactics but she admits police should have responded quicker.
September 2019: Her role in setting up of shambolic probe into alleged VIP child sex abuse and murder based on testimony from the fantasist Carl Beech (right) is revealed but she declines to answer questions.
2020: Official report into Operation Midland said Met was more interested in covering up mistakes than learning from them.
February 2021: Lady Brittan condemns the culture of ‘cover up and flick away’ in the Met and the lack of a moral compass among senior officers.
- The same month a freedom of information request reveals an extraordinary spin campaign to ensure Dame Cressida was not ‘pulled into’ the scandal over the Carl Beech debacle.
March: Criticised for Met handling of a vigil for Sarah Everard, where officers arrested four attendees. Details would later emerge about how her killer, Wayne Couzens (right), used his warrant card to trick her into getting into his car.
- In the first six months of the year, London was on course for its worst year for teenage deaths – 30 – with knives being responsible for 19 out of the 22 killed so far. The youngest was 14-year-old Fares Matou, cut down with a Samurai sword. Dame Cressida had told LBC radio in May her top priority was tackling violent crime.
June: A £20million report into the Daniel Morgan murder brands the Met ‘institutionally corrupt’ and accuses her of trying to block the inquiry. Dame Cressida rejects its findings. Mr Morgan is pictured below.
July: Police watchdog reveals three Met officers being probed over alleged racism and dishonesty.
- The same month the Yard boss is at the centre of another storm after it emerged she was secretly referred to the police watchdog over comments she made about the stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams. Dame Cressida is accused of pre-empting the outcome of an independent investigation.
- Also in July she finds herself under fire over her woeful security operation at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley where fans without tickets stormed the stadium and others used stolen steward vests and ID lanyards to gain access.
August Dame Cressida facing a potential misconduct probe over her open support for Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Horne who could stand trial over alleged data breaches.
December: Two police officers who took pictures of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman (right) were jailed for two years and nine months each.
Pc Deniz Jaffer and Pc Jamie Lewis were assigned to guard the scene overnight after Ms Henry, 46, and Ms Smallman, 27, were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London. Instead, they breached the cordon to take photographs of the bodies, which were then shared with colleagues and members of the public on WhatsApp.
December: Dame Cressida apologises to the family of a victim of serial killer Stephen Port (right). Officers missed several chances to catch him after he murdered Anthony Walgate in 2014.
Dame Cressida – who was not commissioner at the time of the murder – told Mr Walgate’s mother: ‘I am sorry, both personally and on behalf of The Met — had police listened to what you said, things would have turned out a lot differently’.’
January 2022: She faces a barrage of fresh criticism for seeking to ‘muzzle’ Sue Gray’s Partygate report by asking her to make only ‘minimal’ references to parties the Met were investigating.
February 2022: Details of messages exchanged by officers at Charing Cross Police Station, which included multiple references to rape, violence against women, racist and homophobic abuse, are unveiled in a watchdog report.
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