Royal security to be shaken up as Scotland Yard admits 'unacceptable' culture

Metropolitan Police will merge protection teams for the Queen, Kate Middleton, the Prime Minister and other senior politicians

Police protection squads guarding the Queen, the Duchess of Cambridge and key political figures are to undergo a major shake-up, Scotland Yard has announced.
The officers - who are usually armed - provide "close protection" for members of the Royal Family and high-profile politicians, particularly those whose roles cover terrorism and security issues, such as the Home Secretary.
They also guard key buildings including Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster.
The Metropolitan Police units are to undergo major reform in the wake of scandals including 'Plebgate' and claims that officers stole items confiscated from visitors to Buckingham Palace.
Scotland Yard bosses will merge four existing units into two, meaning senior management will be slashed in a bid to save money amid stringent budget cuts.
Force chiefs also set out plans to disrupt "one or two pockets" where protection officers have become "overly comfortable and familiar" by moving staff who have been in their jobs for several years.
Mark Rowley, a Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, described the behaviour of some protection officers as "awful" and confirmed a number of scandals are being investigated.
The Metropolitan Police also suffered serious embarrassment during the fallout of the Plebgate row, when former chief whip Andrew Mitchell was involved in a confrontation with an officer guarding Downing Street.
Mr Rowley said: "Bigger units and more flexibility helps us tackle one or two pockets where we found culture had built up in an unacceptable way over a period of time.
"You've seen the awful behaviour of a small number of officers, Operation Alice which is our investigation into what went on at Downing Street, and there are one or two other current misconduct investigations such as the investigation linked to property seizures at Buckingham Palace."
He added: "While money is not the prime driver for this, of course we do have to deliver value for money and as the overall policing budgets are pressured so the protection budget provided by the Home Office has been pressured over recent years.
"We're constantly looking for ways to save money that don't impact on the quality of protection."
Officers who guard sites including Downing Street and the Palace of Westminster will be merged into one team, as will squads that deal with personal protection for politicians, diplomats and the royal family.
Mr Rowley said: "On the one hand we must maintain the personal protection of principals with people they trust and work with them over substantial periods of time, on the other hand though you need flexible groups of protection officers in support of those."
The changes will mean that officers who have stayed in the same job, potentially for around 20 years, will be pushed out to do something different.
"We find that rotation and churn stops a pocket of culture building up in one place which then over a period of time can cause problems," said Mr Rowley, who leads Scotland Yard's Specialist Operations Command, which is also responsible for counter-terrorism.
"You're always bringing fresh perspectives in, fresh leadership in."
Carol Howard, who brought a discrimination claim against Scotland Yard
The force recently paid out £37,000 to police constable Carol Howard, a firearms officer in the Diplomatic Protection Group, for race and sex discrimination.
Chiefs hope that moving long serving officers out will mean younger staff from more diverse backgrounds can be moved in.
The fallout after the Plebgate row saw four Metropolitan Police constables sacked, including Keith Wallis, who was jailed and dismissed for emailing his MP, pretending to have witnessed the confrontation.

The Police Federation has apologised to Andrew Mitchell, the former Chief Whip, over the “plebgate” affair (Rex Features)
James Glanville was sacked after he leaked information to the Sun newspaper, and Susan Johnson lost her job after she exchanged text messages and a phone call with Glanville around the time he contacted the tabloid, and for failing to report that Wallis had sent her a copy of his email.
Gillian Weatherley, who was on duty on the day of the confrontation between Mr Mitchell and Pc Toby Rowland, was sacked at the end of April over leaks to the press.
She sent a photograph of an email Mr Rowland had sent to his bosses about the row to Glanville.
Another two officers were given final written warnings in relation to statements they provided to the investigation team or for making inappropriate comments.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/11164050/Royal-security-to-be-shaken-up-as-Scotland-Yard-admits-unacceptable-culture.html