Screening project will hopefully 'help rebuild public trust' says Welsh co-lead

31 January 2024

The Federation’s Welsh co-lead hopes the results of the largest integrity screening project undertaken in policing will help to rebuild public trust.

Zac Mader welcomed a study by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) of the records of 307,452 police officers, staff and volunteers.

They were checked against the Police National Database (PND), which contains copies of locally held police records covering intelligence, crime, custody, child protection and domestic abuse investigations.

Of those who were screened, 1,286 officers were from Dyfed Powys Police; 1,510 officers were from Gwent Police; 1,685 officers were from North Wales, and 3,470 officers from South Wales.

A total of 7,951 officers in Wales were screened.

The results found that one officer in Dyfed Powys was the subject of a management intervention or other action; one in Gwent was the subject of a vetting clearance review, while one officer in South Wales was scrutinised further but no issues were found and no further action taken. There were no concerns with officers in North Wales.

Zac said: “I’m sure that our members right across England and Wales will strongly agree that there can be no place whatsoever in policing for corrupt and untrustworthy officers, and we want them out of the service as much as anyone.

“We welcome the results of the screening project, which show that the vast majority of police officers are dedicated to the job of serving and protecting the public, and they do that job with the highest of integrity.

“We hope this project will help build trust and confidence in policing following recent damaging cases and show that there’s nowhere to hide for officers involved in wrongdoing.”

Nationally, 461 of the 307,452 people screened were referred to an appropriate authority and of these, nine triggered further criminal investigation; 88 triggered disciplinary investigation; 139 triggered vetting clearance; 128 triggered management intervention and 97 required no further action.

Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, National Police Chiefs’ Council chair, said: “The cross checking of records on such a large scale was a significant task which shows our commitment right across policing to identify those who do not meet the high standards expected.

“I hope that it gives further reassurance to communities, and to colleagues in policing, that the overwhelming majority of the workforce can be trusted, and that if you are involved in wrongdoing, there is no place to hide.”

Steve Hartshorn, chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), called on the NPCC to conduct this work every year.

He said: “This news from the National Police Chiefs’ Council comes as a positive, reassuring sign that the overwhelming majority of police officers, staff and volunteers are fit for the job and have been assessed to be so.

"For effective policing we need the confidence of the public, so such a large-scale nationwide exercise, reported openly will go further to rebuilding confidence in policing.

“Public trust can only be won by carrying out such exercises and being seen to do so.

“Transparency is key, and so it is reassuring to see that less than 0.15 per cent of records highlighted needed referral to an appropriate authority, and with one fifth of these needing no further action; but this is still too high, and we must continue to root out those who are unfit to serve the public.

"This is why I call on the NPCC to conduct this work every year so that those who do not deserve to be in policing know they have no place to hide, they will be identified, and action will be taken.

“This work is vital to our reputation and our future, and will go on to reassure the public that they can depend on us and trust the officers, volunteers and police staff that they come into contact with.”