Nearly 18K cops have been hired without a single in person interview sparking massive safety fears
NEARLY 18,000 cops have been hired without a single in person interview - sparking fears another Wayne Couzens could be hiding in plain sight.
Forces carried on hiring over Zoom long after Covid restrictions were lifted.
Bombshell stats reveal 17,750 PCs and PCSOs in England and Wales were hired over Zoom in the past four years.
The numbers - revealed by FoI requests and seen by The Sun on Sunday - come after the damning Angiolini Inquiry exposed serious failures in the vetting of police officers.
The probe was set up after gun cop Wayne Couzens kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard, 33, as she walked home.
It will also look at police officer and serial rapist David Carrick.
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Former Detective Superintendent, Shabnam Chaudhri, said it was “absolutely shocking”.
She said: “What we’re potentially looking at is another Wayne Couzens or a David Carrick.
“Officers that are rapists, abusers or criminals that carry badges, who have got into policing through a process that in my view, which is recruitment by shortcut and really lazy policing on the cheap.”
Labour MP Diana Johnson, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee. said the revelations were “very concerning”.
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Virtual assessment processes were introduced as a temporary measure by police at the start of the pandemic.
They were originally extended until 31 March 2022, and carried on in many forces until at least the summer of 2023.
A government spokesman said: “We expect police forces to ensure they are meeting all candidates face to face when hiring new officers, as per the College of Policing guidance.
“All forces are now using face to face assessment activity in addition to the online assessment process.”
“Progress has been, and continues to be, made to strengthen the way officers are vetted, scrutinised, managed and disciplined to rid the force of anyone not fit to serve and stop them from getting into the police in the first place.”
Some 28 police forces in England and Wales responded saying they carried out online-only interviews.
But 13 forces could not provide figures meaning the number of cops recruited over Zoom only could be higher.
Most are back doing in person now, but some like Cumbria said they were still recruiting online only.