POLICE chiefs need to “own up” and admit there are more evil cops out there like Wayne Couzens, a former justice secretary said today.
Robert Buckland insisted the “one bad apple” argument used by ministers and senior cops to explain away the killer officer’s actions “isn’t good enough”.
Instead he warned there is a “tiny minority” of people who go into the force “for the wrong reasons” and more must be done to root them out.
And he revealed one of his last acts in office was to ask Chancellor Rishi Sunak for “a couple of billion” more for our crumbling justice system.
Mr Buckland was sacked as justice secretary by Boris Johnson during last month’s Cabinet reshuffle.
His ousting to create an opening for Dominic Raab, who was demoted from foreign secretary, came out of the blue.
In his first interview since getting the boot he praised the vast majority of police officers as “good, decent public servants”.
But referring to Couzens, he told the New Statesman: “There’s a very small minority indeed who are just bad.
“I’m talking about the tiny minority of people who are people like him, in it for the wrong reasons.
“The ‘one bad apple’ argument isn’t good enough. Leadership is all about being honest and there will be times when the police have to own up.”
Couzens, 48, will spend the rest of his life in jail for the rape, kidnap, and murder of Sarah Everard.
He abducted the 33-year-old as she walked home from her friend’s house in Clapham on March 3.
A serving officer at the time, he used his warrant card to carry out a fake arrest for breaking lockdown rules.
Embattled Met Police chief Dame Cressida Dick announced a review of “standards and culture” across the force.
But she has repeatedly refused to resign over claims she’s mishandled the case and vetting procedures aren’t up to scratch.
It has emerged that Couzens was nicknamed “the rapist” by colleagues three years before he was hired by the Met.
Several of his ex colleagues are also under investigation over material shared in a WhatsApp group which included him.
A constable guarding the site where Ms Everard’s remains were found was removed from duty for sharing a twisted joke about her murder.
A probe by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that other officers failed to challenge the post.
Priti Patel has separately announced that an independent inquiry will be held into the Everard case.
It will cover whether Couzens should have been stopped as well as “wider issues across policing” like vetting of recruits.
But some campaigners have criticised the fact it won’t be put on a statutory footing, meaning witnesses can’t be compelled to testify.
