13 Wiltshire Police staff subject to gross misconduct proceedings
Criminal investigations are taking place in four cases
A total of 13 officers and staff at Wiltshire Police are currently being investigated for gross misconduct.
Four of those cases are being criminally investigated.
The figures have been released by the Force in the wake of the David Carrick sentencing - the former Met Police officer who committed a string of sex offences against women, using his job to intimidate his victims.
Wiltshire Police say they're 'reaffirming the total commitment to rooting out misconduct'.
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said:
“The vile actions of Carrick have, rightly, prompted extensive public conversations on how women and girls in our communities can trust the police service and have confidence they will be protected by those who are supposed to safeguard them.
“This is at a time when the service is already trying to rebuild this public trust further to the murder of Sarah Everard by then serving officer Wayne Couzens.
“Policing is now facing a watershed moment where the public are questing why we should be trusted to keep them safe. The actions of the minority who abuse their positions for their own gratification fundamentally go against everything that we believe in, and our primary role in keeping people safe.
“Such cases also deeply undermine the work of the vast majority of my officers, staff and volunteers who are highly committed public servants working tirelessly and bravely to keep the public safe.
“We are not immune to such toxically damaging cases here in Wiltshire and we, like all other Forces, must now hold the mirror up to ourselves and ensure we root out those who so badly betray the trust the public should have in us.
“We currently have 13 ongoing gross misconduct investigations against officers and staff which are all subject to ongoing enquiries within our Professional Standards Department. Four of these are currently being criminally investigated.
“I would like our communities to know that we will continue to root out those individuals who abuse the position of trust they are in. There is no place in policing for such individuals and we will relentlessly pursue those who do not uphold the oath and values which we, as public servants, live by."
Wiltshire Police is currently in Special Measures, following an inspection of services.
Issues highlighted in that report included the care of victims and the investigation of crimes needing improvement.
Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said:
“His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS) recently made 43 recommendations to Forces focused on improving standards of vetting and misconduct investigations. We have already worked through these recommendations and completed two formal reviews to ensure we are confident our processes and practices are effective.
“We are pleased to say that, as a result of this work, the majority of the recommendations were already in place and, of the eight that were not, there is now a clear plan in place to ensure they are adopted soon.
“In addition to this work, we are also working on a detailed, independent review of our vetting practices which will include cross reference checks on all police officers, staff and volunteers on the nationally held database.
“I am absolutely committed to identifying those who look to betray the confidence we invest in them to keep the public safe.”
The current Chief Constable is retiring from his post next month, to be replaced by Catherine Roper, who's joining Wiltshire from her role as a Commander in the Met.