Dorset Police admit they need to improve officer vetting procedures
The county's PCC says we should still have confidence in the force though
The man in charge of overseeing Dorset Police has admitted there's a lot of work to be done to improve vetting procedures.
Some had criminal records, significant debt and families with links to organised crime.
Dorset's Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick says his force has more work to do:
"What the residents and communities can have confidence in is that, with things like this report, Commissioners up and down the country will be looking at it and making certain that they take account of its findings; challenging their forces to do more in order to address that. I don't want anybody who has a criminal record working for Dorset Police."
But he thinks we should have confidence in his force, despite the findings:
"We know that a lot of police officers, I would say the vast majority of police officers, give a sterling service. But we also know that we will have, inevitably as with any large organisation, people who are not doing the job that we expect to do it, in the way and manner that we'd want them to."
Dorset Police themselves say they 'welcome' the report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
Chief Constable Scott Chilton said:
"Dorset Police will continue to prioritise standards in our vetting and misconduct arrangements to ensure the public continue to have confidence in our procedures and those suitable for a role in policing.
“I am confident the Force has the capability to identify and remove those who are not suitable to be officers or staff in our organisation whilst dealing robustly with those subject to criminal and misconduct offences.
“The public should quite rightly have confidence the Force will work proactively to identify unprofessional and unethical behaviour, and when standards fall below expectations, swift action will be taken.
"The force continues to focus on giving officers and staff the confidence to call out and report any abusive, inappropriate, misogynistic, or discriminatory behaviour."
The top officer in Dorset Police is also keen to point out that no current staff are involved in the problems highlighted in the report:
“I would like to reassure our communities that none of those officers and staff identified within the national report were found to be in Dorset and our vetting of all officers, staff, volunteers and contractors are up to date.
“Our processes around recruitment into the force include thorough pre-employment and vetting checks and are subject to further review when officers or staff move to new roles within or at vetting status renewal. This demonstrates the focus and determination of the force to ensure all staff working in policing are fit to do so as we continue to keep people safe and put victims first.”