Was he one of us?-A police officer shares his thoughts on serial rapist David Carrick.

In the light of the horrific crimes committed by serial rapist David Carrick, a Police Officer writes openly about the lasting impacts his monstrous crimes will have on his victims, the community and for all the decent, hardworking police officers who now will be labelled once again.

David Carrick pleaded guilty on Monday 16 January, to 43 offences including 20 counts of rape, false imprisonment, indecent assault and sexual assault. In other words, an individual who clearly is a monster in every possible way. The worse part is that Carrick was until then a serving police officer. To know that a man who is in a position where women turn to for help, is horrifying. His victims will have endured the most horrendous situations possible and no prison sentence will ever make up for what he has done to them. They must be remembered as incredible women who against all odds, risked everything to come forward to the very organisation he worked for, to report his appalling behaviour.

This was perhaps one of the worse days ever known for the Metropolitan Police Force. Every woman would have felt a sense of sickness as they read about this monster and knowing that he was a police officer, left us all completely speechless.

For all the decent hard police officers in the Met, they watched the trust in their police force dissipate in front of their very own eyes. They were once again faced with the knowledge that women will look at them very apprehensively. Not only do they do the most challenging job in our society, but thanks to a multitude of factors, everyday street cops are once again in the firing line.

We have seen repeated apologies by those at the top of the Met, but for the everyday person, women in particular who walk the streets of London these have very little, if no value. They are people who are remote from the community and do not see the challenges people, especially women face.

It is the street cops, Response Officers, and Neighbourhoods Officers who have also apologised for what has happened and sharing how disgusted they feel knowing that it was an individual who wore the same uniform they do, that committed these crimes. For this, the community will listen and acknowledge what they say as it is them that work with us everyday, them that come to our help when we need it and them that we always rely on.

Please see below the very emotive words of a response officer who openly shares his thoughts on this dreadful situation.

Was he one of us?

It seems like a fairly straight forward question that only has a yes or no answer. Many have said that he was not one of us, but how can that be? We have seen the photos in uniform, we know he was a serving officer. He swore the same oath, carried the warrant card, and worked on the streets along side other officers.

The answer is in the context of something else that is regularly said, ‘it’s not just the job, it’s who we are.’ That sense of purpose, of duty, of values that we hold dear, is wise we feel an affinity with those who wear a uniform. These are things we share.

These are the things that bond us together. These are the people who have made the same sacrifices, taken the same risks, seen the same things, dealt with the same issues and joined for the same reasons.

When we read the news that officers Matthew Arnold and Rachel MCrow had been murdered on duty in Queensland, we felt that loss. It did not matter that it was on the other side of the world, or that we didn’t know them. In a way we did. They were people like us, it could have been us.

If this is who we are, then what of someone who would betray all those values we hold. Might we say ‘He is not one of us’? He is very much not in that sense. But of course he was in the literal sense. He held the Office of Constable, with all the powers and responsibilities that comes with.

We have all been to that call when someone is having one of the worse days of their life and when we arrive, there is that sense of relief, ‘It’s okay the police are here.’ What do they see? Not us as a person but the uniform.

Now (again sadly) what do people see? They see someone who wore that uniform, convicted of horrendous crimes. They don’t know us as individuals, so any trust has to be in that uniform. Understandably, that trust has been damaged, in the most appalling way for the victims and also for others who want or need to be able to feel safe and have confidence in the police.

It is natural to want to declare ‘he is not one of us’, it’s a way to say he is not like me, not like my friends, my colleagues, or my team. But how can anyone tell? The Faith of the public needs to be in all of us.

One person betraying that trust is one too many. tarring all with the same brush is not the answer. After all, it is the police who arrested him and prepared the case that then went to the CPS and before the court.

It is however understandable that people will have concerns. Like I said, how can anyone tell who is the danger and who is not when a predator has been in our ranks for twenty years. Both assertions can be true at the same time. He was not like the overwhelming majority of police officers, but he was a police officer and there is no getting away from that.

When I am out walking, I am not offended that alone woman may look nervous if our paths cross. The same thing applies, how can anyone tell who is the danger and who is not? Particularly with men; we are the greater danger, statistically. We spend our lives in a world of risk assessment and decisions made upon those evaluations. So too do women and girls.

A man may be the biggest risk they have to asses on a daily basis.How then to assess that risk if they cannot rely on that sense of ‘it’s okay the police are here’?

To say that trust will have to be rebuilt is an understatement. He is not the first and sadly will not be the last. The psychological/ personality traits of those who commit crime whilst serving as police officers are going to have been there before joining. It may even motivate some to join. A terrible thought but it is a reality.

Prevention at the first hurdle is the best outcome, the task of recruitment and vetting. If they are ‘not one of us’ then they are infiltrating our job, our calling, our family. They must be stopped.We must be vigilant, we must be relentless in our pursuit of those who are everything we stand against. No place to hide.

I will leave you with an analogy. We must not be the farmer who did not secure the fence. Who did not realise the fox had got into the hen house. Who stood by whilst the fox wreaked havoc. The fox that gets away with it once, will continue until somebody stops him. It is on us to be that somebody. It is what good cops do.

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