The Met Police Dropped the Ball and the Ball Had Names On It

They exposed the women they were supposed to protect. That is not a clerical error. That is a character flaw.

The Met Police has gone and done it now, spilling those poor women's email addresses like they were dropping eggs in their own kitchen. I have seen some dumb in my time, but this is a new kind of special. They took the bull and plowed right in, no blindfold required.

Now, over in Harrow Corners, we had a time back in '89 when the town clock struck thirteen, and it took three days to shake hands with the new folks that showed up. That kind of thing happens here. But even that sorted itself out with less collateral damage than what the Met Police has managed.

What were they thinking, not blind copying those women? Just like you do not send a casserole with your name written all over it without a damn good reason, you do not go showing folks' personal information like you are flaunting a fancy new hat. That is plain common sense. And plain common sense is what the Met seems to be running critically short of. I have seen folks make the same mistake twice, but usually they have had a few drinks first. This is just sloppy. Sloppy without the excuse of a good time.

The Met is saying they are going to "consider" more help and safeguards. Well, I reckon they think now would be a fine time for that. They have named it Operation Cornpoppy, like a name is going to put a shine on this. It is like trying to polish a pig. You can do it. The pig does not improve. Those victims' trust is about as solid as a house of cards in a windstorm, and the Met is just bending over picking up the cards and hoping nobody noticed the whole thing fell. They noticed. They always do.

The women who signed up for those updates have got eyes and ears and long memories. When Mrs. Henderson's boy came back from the lake in '98, folks did not simply move on and forget about it. They are still talking about it today. I feel for these women. They have already been through enough to last three lifetimes, and now instead of protection they got a courtesy exposure and a "sincerely sorry" with a side of "we are looking into it." Well, I would tell the Met to look faster, because those victims are not sitting on their hands waiting for a police force to figure out how to keep a secret.

This is not about money or fancy titles or departmental procedure. It is about the fact that when you break someone's trust, especially someone who came to you already broken, you do not get to call it a learning opportunity and move along. The Met should sit down with those women, look them in the eye, and say they are sorry. Not with some half-assed email that reads like it was drafted by a committee and approved by a lawyer, but like they mean it. And then they can get on with their actual job, which, if I am not mistaken, is supposed to involve not broadcasting private information like it is a prize at the county fair.

As for those women, I would tell them to hold their heads high. They have been through hell and come out the other side still standing, still speaking. It is going to be a long road back to trusting the police, if that road gets rebuilt at all. But they are stronger than the Met gave them credit for, which is part of how this whole mess happened in the first place. They were underestimated. That is the institution's failure, not theirs.

The Met would do well to remember that a badge is not a permission slip to be careless with people. It is a responsibility to the exact folks who cannot protect themselves from you. Accountability is not a policy you roll out after the damage is done. It is the whole job, every day, before anything goes wrong. Get that right and you are worth something. Get it wrong and you are just another outfit that confused authority with trustworthiness.

Those are not the same thing. They never were.

Mind your word and keep your people safe. -- Aunt Dot
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