In the wake of a murder case involving one of its officers, the Metropolitan Police of London have issued a statement advising women in the city to be skeptical of people claiming to be plain-clothes police officers working alone and to seek help if they feel uneasy in one’s presence.
Wayne Couzens, a Met Police officer, was found guilty this week of abducting, raping and murdering 33-year-old Sarah Everard. He was sentenced to life in prison. Under the guise of the coronavirus restrictions imposed during a national lockdown in March, Couzens told Everard she was under arrest. He then took her to a secluded location where he attacked and killed her.
The Met said that in response to the abduction and murder of Everard and the murders of three other women in public places in London, the police were advising women to be skeptical when they are approached by single men claiming to be police officers.
The Met advises women to ask any officer approaching them a series of questions: “Where are your colleagues? Where have you come from? Why are you here? Exactly why are you stopping or talking to me?”
If the woman is still concerned about the person claiming to be an officer, she “must seek assistance – shouting out to a passer-by, running into a house, knocking on a door, waving a bus down or if you are in the position to do so calling 999 [the British version of 9-1-1].”