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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Drug-taking Met Police officer would have been fired if he had not resigned

A drug-using senior Met Police officer would have been sacked had he not already resigned, the force said.

Supt Aaron Clarke, attached to the Met unit covering the boroughs of Newham and Waltham Forest, tested positive after a ‘for cause’ drugs test.

The force has not disclosed which substances the officer tested positive for.

On Monday, a misconduct probe chaired by Assistant Commissioner Pippa Mills found that Clarke would have been dismissed without notice were he still in post.

It heard that in July, Clarke was asked to provide a urine sample having been informed there was reasonable cause to suspect he had taken drugs.

When the result came back positive, Clarke was suspended from duty and in October he resigned.

Chief Superintendent Simon Crick, local policing commander for north east London, said: “All officers are expected to maintain high standards both on and off duty – even more so those who are of a senior rank - and Supt Clarke knows that he has fallen far below the standards expected of him. 

“In so doing he knows he has badly let down myself, his colleagues, partners and most importantly the public.

“Our DPS [Directorate of Professional Standards] colleagues worked hard to ensure this matter was dealt with expeditiously and the right outcome was reached by the panel.”

Clarke will now also be added to the policing Barred List.

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