Police To Publish Results Of Misconduct Meetings

20 February 2014, 06:00

In an effort to improve transparency, Northants Police have told Heart they are to publish details of all internal misconduct hearings carried out by the force.

The initiative follows moves by the College of Policing, the professional body of the police service in England and Wales, to promote integrity in policing.
 
The figures will be published on the force’s website every three months.

Detective Superintendent Jan Meagher, head of the Professional Standards Department at Northamptonshire Police, said she hoped the move would help build public confidence in the force. Speaking to Heart DS Meagher said: "Northamptonshire Police fully support the College of Policing's Integrity Programme and the ongoing work to promote public confidence in the police service’s ability to robustly deal with misconduct.
 
In doing so, we will now publish on a quarterly basis anonymised outcomes of misconduct meetings and misconduct hearings, including those cases where officers and staff leave the force prior to the conclusion of an investigation for matters assessed as gross misconduct or who leave the force prior to a hearing where a case to answer has been established.

The benefits of proactive publication of this information include enhanced public transparency of local conduct matters and a reduction in the impact of administration of Freedom of Information Act requests for such data."
 
The first set of statistics have been published on the force’s website today, with the next set due to be released in April.
 
They detail all misconduct investigations carried out in relation to both police officers and police staff.

Staff, Officers And The Hearing Results

In Northants, there's 1287 officers, 124 PCSO's, 996 other staff and a further 263 Special Constables.

In 2013, the Force dealt with over 200,000 reported incidents and investigated over 41,400 crimes which led to over
13,505 arrests.

During this period the Professional Standards Department formally investigated a total of 81 allegations of Misconduct by 48 Police Officers and 33 members of Police Staff.

21 cases resulted in a finding of no case to answer.
31 cases resulted in a case to answer for which Management Action was the outcome.
8 cases resulted in a case to answer for Misconduct and were referred to a Misconduct Meeting.
21 cases were assessed as amounting to Gross Misconduct.

A Special Constable and 2 of Members of Staff subject of the allegation resigned during the course of the investigation and prior to a formal hearing.

The cases

  • Jan 13 Inappropriate behaviour by police officer supervisor - No further action
  • Jan 13 Failure to follow police policy in relation to force systems by police officer - Management Advice
  • Jan 13 Falsifying information relating to an incident by police staff - Dismissal without notice
  • Jan 13 Falsifying information relating to an incident by police staff - Dismissal without notice
  • Jan 13 Failure to properly deal with an incident by police staff - Final Written Warning
  • Jan 13 Inappropriate posting on force Twitter site by police officer - Written Warning
  • Feb 13 Misuse of force systems by police officer - Written Warning 
  • Mar 13 Inappropriate behaviour towards police property by police staff - Final Written Warning
  • Mar 13 Inappropriate behaviour towards colleagues by police staff - Dismissal without notice
  • Mar 13 Improper disclosure of information by police staff - Written Warning
  • Mar 13 Failure to follow police policy in relation to force systems by police officer - Management Advice
  • May 13 Failure to follow police policy in relation to force systems by police officer - Management Advice
  • Jun 13 Failure to follow police policy in relation to firearms by police officers - Management Advice
  • Jul 13 Falsifying an application form by police staff - Dismissal without notice
  • Aug 13 Misuse of force systems by police officer - Dismissal without notice
  • Aug 13 Inappropriate comments to colleagues and inappropriate use of social media website by police officer - Dismissal without notice
  • Aug 13 Misuse of force systems by police officer - Written Warning
  • Sep 13 Misuse of force systems and failing to comply with an instruction by police staff - Final Written warning
  • Sep 13 Breach of force policy and misuse of force systems by police staff - Final Written warning
  • Sep 13 Failure to follow police policy in relation to associations by police staff - Management Advice
  • Sep 13 Failure to follow police policy in relation to force systems by police officer - Management Advice
  • Oct 13 Neglect of duty by not remaining impartial during criminal investigation by police officer - Final Written warning
  • Oct 13 Neglect of duty by police officer also amounting to Honesty and Integrity - Dismissal without notice
  • Oct 13 Neglect of duty by above police officer (linked cases) - Dismissal without notice
  • Oct 13 Lack of fairness and impartiality demonstrated by police officer - No further action
  • Dec 13 Failure to follow police policy in relation to force systems, and striking a colleague whilst at work by police officer - Final Written Warning