London police may be overlooking serial killers

Because deaths are not properly investigated, police in London can overlook a slew of murders. That is the worrying conclusion of an investigative report into the work of the Metropolitan Police released Thursday evening.

Inspectors from the supervisory authority HMICFRS (His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services) stated that the police authority, also known as Scotland Yard, has still not learned from mistakes that led to the avoidable deaths of three young men in 2014 and 2015.

At the time, a serial killer poisoned four victims with knockout drops and dumped the lifeless bodies near his home in East London’s Barking area. However, the police initially saw no connection between the deaths. Investigations later showed that he could have been convicted after the first murder if the police had done their job properly.

“The Met (Metropolitan Police) have not learned enough from their mistakes eight years ago and it is clear that what happened then can happen again,” Superintendent of Police Matt Parr, who led the investigation, told the PA news agency. Some researchers are said to have openly admitted that they find similarities between unexplained deaths more due to luck than the rigorous application of standard procedures.

According to the regulator, the police are called every day in London because of 30 unexpected deaths. That is about 10,000 cases per year. However, of these, only two to three per week would be classified as murder. “It seems to me likely, if not certain, that among the deaths not classified as homicide, there are some,” Parr said.