London’s Metropolitan Police has refused to say how many officers in its Sexual Offences Unit have been accused of sex offences.

Data chiefs at the force told openDemocracy that publishing the statistics would be a breach of privacy.

The shocking refusal comes amid renewed criticism of the police force, after a serving officer was revealed to be one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.

Earlier this week, PC David Carrick admitted to dozens of sexual offences committed over two decades, including 24 counts of rape.

His campaign of abuse and terror continued despite concerns being brought to the attention of the Met Police over nine incidents, including rape allegations.

The force’s assistant commissioner, Barbara Gray, admitted: “We should have spotted his pattern of abusive behaviour and, because we didn't, we missed opportunities to remove him from the organisation.”

On Tuesday, the Met Police announced a review of 1,600 cases of alleged sexual offences or domestic violence involving its own officers and staff.

But openDemocracy can reveal that the force is refusing to disclose details of allegations made against those responsible for investigating them.

Set up last year in response to a series of sexual abuse scandals, the Domestic and Sexual Offences (DASO) Unit is designed to expose abusive officers and “get out the bad cops”.

But the force rejected a Freedom of Information request sent by openDemocracy asking how many members of DASO had themselves faced sexual abuse allegations – and what the outcome of disciplinary action had been.

The Met Police said publishing the data could “publicly reveal information about an individual or individuals, thereby breaching the right to privacy”. They added that it “would risk undermining the disciplinary process”. openDemocracy is appealing the decision.

The excuses come despite the fact that police have previously disclosed the same information about other teams within Scotland Yard.

Last year, openDemocracy revealed how Met Police officers had been allowed to keep their jobs after sending racist and sexist messages. The scandal was uncovered only after a 12-month battle by the police force to keep the details secret.

In October, a report by former victims commissioner for England and Wales Louise Casey claimed that hundreds of officers in the force have been getting away with misconduct and criminal offences. It said that cases of sexual misconduct and discriminatory behaviour were less likely to result in a ‘case to answer’ decision than other issues.

Met Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley this week blamed “weak decision-making” on his force’s “spectacular failure” to arrest serial rapist PC David Carrick earlier. He told the BBC: “We have been too weak on this, systematically, for some time.”

Carrick was vetted in 2001 and again in 2017, but passed on both occasions. As a member of the force’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command, he was tasked with policing parliamentary, government and diplomatic premises. He was suspended only in October 2021 after a second rape allegation was made against him.

In court, the 48-year-old admitted raping nine women, some on multiple occasions. He called women his “slaves” and locked some of his victims in a small cupboard under the stairs in his house for hours without food. Some women were also whipped with a belt or forced to clean his house naked.

His conviction follows that of his former Met Police colleague, Wayne Couzens, who abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in 2021.

Two other Met officers were found guilty last year of sharing offensive messages with Wayne Couzens. And in another case last year, three officers were accused of sharing videos on WhatsApp that were “explicitly racist, homophobic, sexist, ableist and Islamophobic”.