Received: 24 February 2023

1. The sum total of officers accused of misconduct and gross misconduct making claims for police federation support made by members have increased by 43% since 2018, from 418 to 598. Is there a reason for this rise? There were vastly more claims in every year for gross misconduct allegations than misconduct allegations – is this related to the severity and risk of dismissal that comes with a gross misconduct allegation?
2. The number of officers claiming support for criminal charges each year has shot up by 590% since 2012, to a record 1387 in 2022, which suggests a similar rise in the number of charges being faced by Police Federation members. Would the group be prepared to comment on or explain that data?
3. It is our understanding that the membership of the Police Federation is around the 140,000 mark. Is that the case?
4. If so, the fact that just under 1400 claims were made in relation to criminal charges would suggest as high as just below 1% of members faced criminal charges last year. Does the police federation have any comment on that? While we are aware it is possible for the same member to make multiple claims in a year, is that a common occurrence? Would the PolFed be able to share any data on this to prove that it is something that happens regularly? If it is not tracked would it then be fair to say "as high as almost 1% of officers" claim for support related to criminal charges would be accurate?
5. In section 3 of the FOI it specifically suggests data relates to “criminal charges". I wanted to clarify what definition the police federation used for this? Would it only be those who had already been charged with a crime, or merely those suspected or being interviewed over it.
6. A proportion of those criminal cases related to “sexual offence charges”. Would the police federation be prepared to offer any explanation as to whether it felt it was appropriate to offer defence to officers suspected with or charged with a sexual crime / offence like rape or sexual assault?
7. Does the police federation have any form of internal guidelines as to what sexual crimes it would and would not be prepared to offer support over? Generally does the police federation have any guidelines as to what crimes it would not be prepared to offer support to members over? Are any claims for support rejected each year?
8. We also wanted to clarify if the “claims” referenced in the FOI just covered legal support, or covered any other form of assistance police federations can offer their members. If the latter what is the nature of that assistance?

Responded: 24 February 2023

Response no longer required by requester therefore case was closed.