Met PCSO arrested for ‘outraging public decency’ after video shared online
Police Community Support Officer remains in custody as investigation gets underway
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Sign up to our free breaking news emails
A serving Metropolitan Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) has been arrested on suspicion of outraging public decency.
The PCSO, who the Met said is attached to its Roads and Transport Policing Command, remained in custody this afternoon.
It comes after a clip was shared on social media, appearing to show a man in uniform on a park bench.
Police said in a statement that the video came to their attention just before 11.30pm on Wednesday night, at which point they “acted immediately” with officers “working throughout the night” to establish what happened.
Commander Kyle Gordon, who heads up the Roads and Transport Policing Command, said he was “absolutely horrified” and insisted incidents such as this are “contrary” to everything “decent officers and staff ... stand for”.
“I would like to reassure everyone that we are working as fast as we possibly can to identify the full circumstances of what took place,” he said.
Mr Gordon added that the Met intended to “keep the public updated at significant stages of the inquiry” but because it was a criminal investigation, he was “limited in what further details” he could give.
The probe is being led by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards. A referral has also been made to the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
Standards at the Met have been under close scrutiny in recent months following a string of high profile breaches of public confidence and trust.
In 2021, serving Met Police officer Wayne Couzens was arrested and later charged with the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.
Couzens used his police badge to lure Sarah into his car, prompting public outcry into the lack of procedures in place to protect women and girls.
Earlier this year, the Met’s texting scandal saw the force’s commissioner Dame Cressida Dick resign after the Mayor of London announced he had lost confidence in her leadership.
Messages sent by serving officers at Charing Cross Police station included homophobia, misogyny and racism.