Met Police admit 70% of officers have not completed mandatory data training

Up to 70% of Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers have failed to complete mandatory data protection training after a series of high-profile data incidents and regulatory action over compliance failures.

At a London Assembly Police and Crime Committee meeting, senior officers acknowledged the failings and agreed that compliance must be achieved swiftly, although they declined to set a specific deadline. The session followed findings from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) identifying serious, ongoing shortcomings and low completion rates in the force's training programmes, leading the regulator to issue an enforcement notice and formal reprimand.

Kenny Bowie, Director of Strategy and MPS Oversight at the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), described the 30-40% completion rate as poor and in urgent need of improvement. Responding to questions from London Assembly Member Benali Hamdache, Bowie stressed that the issue requires urgent attention, warning that training failures risk undermining victim trust and that poor data handling can have a corrosive effect when vulnerable individuals seek police assistance.

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