Susanna Reid has cautioned that the public’s trust in the police has dwindled as a result of a slew of scandals.
The Good Morning Britain host was reacting to a horrific collision in Wales that killed three young people and left two more in critical condition in hospital.
Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, Rafel Jeanne, 24, Sophie Russon, 20, and Shane Loughlin, 32, were all reported missing after a night out in Newport on Friday, with their loved ones anxiously attempting to locate them since they were last seen at 2 a.m. Saturday.
Smith, Ross, and Jeanne were discovered dead more than two days after they were last seen, while Russon and Loughlin had been locked in the truck for up to 46 hours before being discovered.
The police response to the disappearances has been criticised, with Russon’s mother, Anna Certowicz, telling the MailOnline that policemen said her daughter was “probably out partying” and that she had to go out looking for the group herself.
The disturbing revelation comes after murderer Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens was sentenced to 19 months in prison for exposing himself to women three times before stabbing Sarah Everard.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of Good Morning Britain, host Reid was ‘appalled’ by the news, and asked: ‘Why did it take 46 hours to find this car?
‘If two of those young people survived, what could have been done in the previous hours?’
The presenter went on to say that she meant “no disrespect” to the “wonderful” police officers who “perform fantastic job” all throughout the nation and “do brilliant work every day.”
‘But does it not feel like our faith in the police is at a – I wouldn’t say an all-time low, but at a low,’ she said.
Reid observed Couzens’ recent conviction, giving respect to the ‘poor victims of his indecent exposure’ and wondering ‘why on earth wasn’t that treated seriously? Sarah Everard may have survived.’
She also inquired as to how the scandals and public outpourings were influencing police recruiting “when trust in police is so low.”
‘It feels like we’re losing trust in the police, in their capacity or motivation to go out and seek for our children,’ she added later in the broadcast.
Former Met Police Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, who appeared on the show, stated that 20,000 officers had been slashed from the force over the years and that they were still fighting to return to previous levels, adding that some officers were now inexperienced.
The hearing that resulted in Couzens’ fresh conviction revealed additional facts about his crimes, raising new concerns about whether police missed opportunities to stop him before he murdered 33-year-old marketing professional Sarah.
He is already serving a life sentence for raping and murdering Everard.
An independent investigation has been launched into Couzens’ previous sex offences and if police missed opportunities to stop him before he murdered Everard.
Certowicz, who is still reeling from her daughter Russon’s abduction and terrible injuries, said it was ‘too horrific to think what she went through imprisoned in the car in the dark till it was light and then dark again over two days.
‘Sophie was lying there for all that time, they could all have been found much quicker if the police had started searching straight away.’
‘I was ringing the police all through Saturday and Sunday but they didn’t seem bothered.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV and ITVX
Source My Celebrity Life.