UK UK - Sarah Everard, 33, London - Clapham Common area, 3 March 2021 #4 *Arrests*

[Whitehall 1212]

Asking any Met LE experts. Is it feasible that an officer could be finishing a shift at 9pm or thereabouts and be heading home in his own car? Are there standard shift patterns?

Another way of approaching her might have been to get out of the car and show his ID and tell her that there's been an incident, some violence, gang related incident, whatever on the road ahead and that it might not be safe for her to continue on her route and offer a lift?

Or of course if he was a neighbour/landlord he could have done the same thing.

If he had quickly bashed her over the head he could then have de-activated her phone and made his way out of the area.

There are a whole litany of theories.

It seems that the mention of the arrested person being a police officer leaves many thinking that it must have been an officer on duty. I think that is highly speculative and most unlikely.

It is statistically much more likely to be someone known to SE, possibly an rejected former partner and that this incident took place outside of his duty times.

In answer to your question on shift patterns. There will be a lot of variation to make best use of limited resources depending on the demand.

Even though there is likely to be a published 52 week rota for officers who work shifts, to comply with Police Federation agreements, there is huge scope for change to this with overtime, voluntary changes, police regulations allowing for change at short notice during a national crisis, unforseen operational demands etc.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Wow, you go to bed and wake up and find all the action has happened!

This is unbelievable news, a cop. But what does it mean? 'Arrested in connection', but as the perp or what?

 

[Tee847]

There are a whole litany of theories.

It seems that the mention of the arrested person being a police officer leaves many thinking that it must have been an officer on duty. I think that is highly speculative and most unlikely.

It is statistically much more likely to be someone known to SE, possibly an rejected former partner and that this incident took place outside of his duty times.

In answer to your question on shift patterns. There will be a lot of variation to make best use of limited resources depending on the demand.

Even though there is likely to be a published 52 week rota for officers who work shifts, in compliance of Police Federation agreements, there is huge scope for changes to this titan with overtime, voluntary changes, poluce regulations during a national crisis etc.

Agree with this. If this was serving officer on duty then he would have come unstuck before now for a load of reasons including the vehicle and his airwave footprint.

The shift patterns are usually on a 5 or 6 week rolling pattern repeated, but as said before unless he's a dog unit, he won't be single manned in Lambeth or any of the surrounding area unless something has gone badly wrong with their manning, which would seem unlikely.

 

[sriraaacha]

Tbh I was planning on just reading about this here since I found this forum earlier, but all of the potential ideas, scenarios and findings have been so interesting yet confusing to me that I decided to post.

I've lived in London for a few years, not in Clapham but in SW and have been around that area Sarah was walking, but in the morning. It's honestly not a place that feels safe to me despite how apparently lit up and busy it is at night, mostly because of all the council estates everywhere. However with it being a main road, you'd expect it to be fine.

There are so many possibilities as to what happened that could have taken place that night and I'm not even sure we'll ever really know exactly what went down.

I'm skeptical of "her phone randomly running out of battery" at that time. I have an iPhone too (with a pretty bad battery as well), but for it to be just at that exact time seems a little too coincidental. I also doubt that anything unusual happened while she was on the phone with her bf either, or else surely this would have been mentioned or there would have been more suspicion before?

It also seems weird to think of a policeman planning out a premeditated attack on her or any girl tbh (unless of course they knew each other). Just because there could have been so many other more isolated places to do so rather than that road.

The most plausible post I saw earlier was about how the police officer could have maybe hit her in his car by accident, panicked and feared for his job and it escalated from there.

Even though I'm not that hopeful given all this information, I really still hope she's found safe soon.

 

[Tee847]

The most plausible post I saw earlier was about how the police officer could have maybe hit her in his car by accident, panicked and feared for his job and it escalated from there.

.

The road is way way too busy for that to have not been seen on cctv even from the fixed cameras let alone the bus cameras active on that route.

 

[Whitehall 1212]

My point was that if they were that clever to go thru to the lengths of using faraday bags etc, it would be also massively naive to let themselves be tracked to the point of contact with so many cameras around. Surely a genuine offender wouldn't be that clever and thick all at the same time.

I think there is an old saying about hiding in plain sight.

It doesn't matter how many cameras are operating, if a vehicle is not of interest for some reason it won't feature on the police investigative radar.

Yes, if there are good quality images from traffic cameras near to where SE was last seen, then vehicles in that immediate area at the material time will be of interest.

It also needs to be remembered that is was dark when SE went missing and this can often impact on the quality of the images, particularly if the road is wet and headlight glare is worse.

The further the camera is away from the area of interest then the number of vehicles in play increases, often prohibitively.

The SIO has to determine the best use of resources based on a finite budget for overtime, and other elements such as specialist services, e.g. sending items for testing at the forensic lab.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

In a major breakthrough in the case, which has dominated British news headlines, Metropolitan Police announced a man in Kent had been arrested.
The man is a serving Metropolitan Police officer.

A woman has also been arrested at the same location on suspicion of assisting an offender, police said in a statement.
She has also been taken into custody at a London police station.

UK police officer arrested over London woman's disappearance

It seems he had an accomplice?

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

OP didn't seem certain how they'd got their number, now that I re-read it. Troubling.

Going back now, this does seem weird.

Firstly, why did this alleged cop not make contact via Twitter. The police have been asking people with sightings etc to DM them.

Secondly, I doubt this cop got info from Twitter. We all know how difficult it is to get those SM like Twitter and Facebook to do anything on an official line. Would they so immediately have handed over personal details? Did the poster have a lot of personal info to be tracked down by other means?

I am just scrolling through as I write, and have a few suspicions, but will read on to see if more has come to light...

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

the issue about that that baffles me is he said that "Twitter has my number saved" or something to that effect - and as far as i'm aware, unless he actually gave the police his phone number in a Twitter DM (private message), there would be no "Automatic" way for any police officer to get his number. Twitter would have to be contacted by the Police, in a sort of warrant kind of a way...

We need to hear from the poster to see if that is what they did. When were they last on WS?

 

[armchairdetective123]

Those are some crazy news I'm waking up to!

 

[Tee847]

I think there is an old saying about hiding in plain sight.

It doesn't matter how many cameras are operating, if a vehicle is not of interest for some reason if won't feature on the police investigative radar.

Yes, if there are good quality images from traffic cameras near to where SE was last seen, then vehicles in that immediate area at the material time will be of interest.

It also needs to be remembered that is was dark when SE went missing and this can often impact on the quality of the images, particularly if the road is wet and headlight glare is worse.

The further the camera is away from the area of interest then the number of vehicles in play increases, often prohibitively.

The SIO has to determine the best use of resources based on a finite budget for overtime, and other elements such as specialist services, e.g. sending items for testing at the forensic lab.

Was it wet that night ? , as tho i'm local, i don't recall it being that.

The south circ has streetlights every 50 yards tops - they aren't going to be missing out on detail of a car in misly rain which is all it could have been at best.

Buses with cctv are running along there all the time.

The traffic flow will have been busy but not to the point where a car pinging in one direction would have been able to disappear in the other. This isn't a road where you can just pop a u-turn and wiggle yourself out without pinging another camera.

The cctv/anpr stuff isn't necessarily investigated only by the team dealing with the incident as i'm sure you know so the bit about overtime isn't always an issue.

 

[Whitehall 1212]

Following your post: how one acts when frightened.
Years ago, I attended a self defence course run by the police.
We were informed, on a certain day, we will be attacked: police officer well disguised and padded.
We should use all the tactics we have been taught.
I FROZE.

Totally understandable if you have no combat muscle memory and experience of when best to consciously use the fight or flight response. Boys (and girls for the sake of equality) that scrap at school or even better practice combat sports often have an innate learnt ability and confidence to defend themselves but also to recognise possible danger and avoid conflict.

Freeze is a valid response used in the animal kingdom, particularly if there is camouflage. Although, it may not always be the best response if we are attacked.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Assistant Commissioner Nick Ephgrave said: "The arrest this evening is a serious and significant development. We will continue to work with all speed on this investigation but the fact that the arrested man is a serving Metropolitan Police officer is both shocking and deeply disturbing.


Sarah Everard disappearance: Metropolitan police officer arrested

 

[yardyyardy]

We need to hear from the poster to see if that is what they did. When were they last on WS?

For me, the user was last seen: Yesterday at 12:42 PM
I’m 11 hours ahead of London so, online at around 1.40am UK time?
Unsure if poster based in UK, assume so because of call, but feels relevant to highlight time difference.

I’m iffy on the call occuring as described (JMO)

 

[Gemini90]

Hi All,

I’m also new here and came across this forum because the SE case has really hit me to the core as well - like others, due to also living in South London and seemingly have a very similar life to hers. This is just all so heartbreaking - and I can’t stop thinking about her and her poor family.

Just wanted to contribute to the recent discussion re her phone: I had my phone grabbed from my hands from someone on a bike in south London a couple of months back. A security guard in front of a nearby building saw it happen and called the police. I had two officers with me in less than two minutes. They got me to get into the car with them and we drove around trying to ID the guy. The told me that this was part of a well known phone theft issue in south London and they had already upwards of 12 calls for the same thing that evening. They told me that they look for people who have their phones out next to a road and grab them and then turn them off instantly so can’t be tracked (my phone was also disconnected by whoever stole it instantly).

The reason I bring this up is because given how wide spread this has been in south London, I do think the theory that SE had her phone stolen and then turned off and this is how she may have gotten into the PO’s car is very plausible. Especially if SE had her phone out having just spoken with her BF walking along the road she would be a prime target for this. Perhaps she tried chasing the thief (I did the same) and that’s when she was highlighted to the PO.

Since having my phone stolen I’ve heard from countless other people in south London that the same thing either happened to them or they know someone, and all said that the also told them to get in the car with them to do a drive around, so I could easily see SE having no hesitations doing the same with a PO with a badge.

It just seems implausible to me that this could have been premeditated and a PO was just waiting for someone in a quiet area like that. Seems much more likely to me that it would have been an opportunistic attack/assault (the PO would have also known that her phone was gone and couldn’t be tracked) that escalated.

 

[Tee847]

Hi All,


It just seems implausible to me that this could have been premeditated and a PO was just waiting for someone in a quiet area like that. Seems much more likely to me that it would have been an opportunistic attack/assault (the PO would have also known that her phone was gone and couldn’t be tracked) that escalated.

Police don't go round single staffed in a car in south london tho, unless it's a dog unit, and they certainly wouldn't be dispatched to a call like that as a single. The tracking of the officer and his vehicle or radio would have flagged him instantly as a person of interest

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Hi All,

I’m also new here and came across this forum because the SE case has really hit me to the core as well - like others, due to also living in South London and seemingly have a very similar life to hers. This is just all so heartbreaking - and I can’t stop thinking about her and her poor family.

Just wanted to contribute to the recent discussion re her phone: I had my phone grabbed from my hands from someone on a bike in south London a couple of months back. A security guard in front of a nearby building saw it happen and called the police. I had two officers with me in less than two minutes. They got me to get into the car with them and we drove around trying to ID the guy. The *** told me that this was part of a well known phone theft issue in south London and they had already upwards of 12 calls for the same thing that evening. They told me that they look for people who have their phones out next to a road and grab them and then turn them off instantly so can’t be tracked (my phone was also disconnected by whoever stole it instantly).

The reason I bring this up is because given how wide spread this has been in south London, I do think the theory that SE had her phone stolen and then turned off and this is how she may have gotten into the PO’s car is very plausible. Especially if SE had her phone out having just spoken with her BF walking along the road she would be a prime target for this. Perhaps she tried chasing the thief (I did the same) and that’s when she was highlighted to the PO.

Since having my phone stolen I’ve heard from countless other people in south London that the same thing either happened to them or they know someone, and all said that the *** also told them to get in the car with them to do a drive around, so I could easily see SE having no hesitations doing the same with a PO with a badge.

It just seems implausible to me that this could have been premeditated and a PO was just waiting for someone in a quiet area like that. Seems much more likely to me that it would have been an opportunistic attack/assault (the PO would have also known that her phone was gone and couldn’t be tracked) that escalated.

I kind of thought it was a mugging gone wrong, someone watching her as she had been on phone. If that occurred at the spot outside Poynders Court, might explain their interest in the road outside.

But where does the cop come in? He was passing and saw the incident and got her in his car saying he was a police officer and would give her a lift home? Then again, the police were inside Poynders Court so there must be some link to the interior.

 

[Gemini90]

Police don't go round single staffed in a car in south london tho, unless it's a dog unit, and they certainly wouldn't be dispatched to a call like that as a single. The tracking of the officer and his vehicle or radio would have flagged him instantly as a person of interest

I’m going off the assumption that he may not have been on duty but potentially randomly came across her in the aftermath but was still able to get her into the car with his badge (probably knowing that taking the victim on a drive around to attempt to ID the thief if common practice which would not arouse her suspicions).

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Police don't go round single staffed in a car in south london tho, unless it's a dog unit, and they certainly wouldn't be dispatched to a call like that as a single. The tracking of the officer and his vehicle or radio would have flagged him instantly as a person of interest

We don't know rank and he could have been off duty and in an unmarked car.

 

[Gemini90]

I kind of thought it was a mugging gone wrong, someone watching her as she had been on phone. If that occurred at the spot outside Poynders Court, might explain their interest in the road outside.

But where does the cop come in? He was passing and saw the incident and got her in his car saying he was a police officer and would give her a lift home? Then again, the police were inside Poynders Court so there must be some link to the interior.

the first part is what I was thinking too but you’re right, doesn’t add up to the search of PC. So many unanswered questions.