Project shows vast amount of officers 'behave impeccably' says Fed chair
24 January 2024
The results from the largest integrity screening project undertaken in policing show that the vast majority of West Mercia Police officers ‘conduct themselves impeccably’, says Federation branch chair Barry Horton.
The records of 307,452 police officers, staff and volunteers have been checked against the Police National Database (PND) - a data store of operational policing information and intelligence provided by individual forces.
In West Mercia, 2,430 officers, 2,097 staff and 218 volunteers were screened.
The data, which has been published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), showed one person required a vetting clearance review. Two other people had additional checks, though no further action was needed.
Barry said: “This is largest integrity screening project ever undertaken in policing and the results from the project are really positive.
“It shows that vast majority of officers in the UK, and in West Mercia Police in particular, conduct themselves impeccably.
“Police officers are under scrutiny like never before, and I’m sure all our members will absolutely agree there’s no place in policing for corrupt officers.
“I hope that the results of this process will help to restore trust and confidence in policing.”
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.
“Police forces responded with urgency, enabling us to carry out the largest integrity screening project that policing has ever seen.
“Despite the comparatively low numbers of returns the exercise was important in ensuring we have a strong foundation on which to build an automated process.
“We look forward to working with our colleagues across Government and policing to make this a reality.
“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.”
Read the results here.
