Sexual misconduct complaints made against Leicestershire and Lincolnshire officers
New figures show hundreds of complaints have been made against officers in the UK
Last updated 12th Oct 2021
New figures show the number of sexual misconduct complaints that have been made against officers at Leicestershire Police and Lincolnshire Police between 2016 and 2020.
They show that over four years there were 20 claims, relating to 26 officers at Leicestershire Police.
Those were against at least 20 males, at least 1 female, and 3 unclear.
Meanwhile, there were 17 claims against male officers at Lincolnshire Police.
The numbers have been put together by RADAR under the Freedom of Information Act, with at least 750 accusations made in total at 31 police forces.
The FoI asked forces in England, Wales and Scotland how many complaints of sexual assault were made against serving police officers in each of these years.
Complaints could relate to historic allegations and most, where the gender was recorded, were against male officers, the data shows.
The responses did not indicate whether any of the officers were on duty at the time of the alleged incidents.
Of the total number of cases logged by forces over the five years, at least 34 resulted in dismissals.
In at least seven cases, an officer was listed as having either resigned or been dismissed, and at least six officers would have been dismissed if they had not resigned first.
At least one officer resigned before a misconduct hearing, and in one case the officer was listed as deceased.
It comes after an independent inquiry was announced by the Home Secretary Priti Patel to look into the “systematic failures” that allowed Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens, to be employed as a police officer.
Baroness Casey of Blackstock will lead a separate review of culture and standards at the Metropolitan Police in the wake of Ms Everard’s murder.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which oversees the police complaints system, said it was down to forces to “stamp out” any abuse of police powers.
A spokesperson said: “The abuse of police powers for purposes of sexual exploitation, or violence, has a devastating impact on victims, and a serious impact on the public’s confidence in individual officers and the service in general.
“It is critical there are effective systems in place to prevent, monitor and deal swiftly with any individual who exploits that trust.
“In the context of the police service, this behaviour is a form of corruption and should be dealt with as such.
“Each case reported represents a serious betrayal of the trust and confidence that individuals should have in the police. It is behaviour which can never be justified or condoned.”
Detective Superintendent Suzanne Davies, Head of Lincolnshire Police's Professional Standards Department, said:
"Lincolnshire Police takes all allegations of sexual assault made against an officer, or a member of staff, extremely seriously.
"Whenever a complaint of a sexual offence is received it is referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
"The allegations are investigated robustly and where there is evidence to do so, the case will be presented to the Crown Prosecution Service and referred to a gross misconduct hearing.
"These figures show that in one case an officer was convicted of common assault and a gross misconduct hearing concluded that the former officer would have been dismissed had he not resigned.
"He was placed on the Barred List.
"In all other instances, officers were found to have no case to answer.
"The public’s trust and confidence in policing is vital, and our processes are there to ensure that we treat these reports with the utmost seriousness."
Meanwhile Leicestershire Police have backed a statement given by a National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesperson, who said:
"Without question, it’s expected and important in terms of accountability and public trust for every force to demonstrate the greatest levels of transparency possible around misconduct hearings and outcomes.
"Hearings are chaired by a Chief Constable where evidence is incontrovertible and a misconduct hearing is an accelerated one, but all others are overseen by an Independent Legally Qualified Chair, appointed by the Local Policing Body and not the police force.
"The Chair decides if a misconduct hearing is held in public taking into consideration crucial factors such as the vulnerability, physical and mental health or the welfare of witnesses who may or may not be called upon to give evidence, the naming of children or whether holding a hearing in public would jeopardise criminal proceedings.
"Police officers and former officers dismissed under Conduct Regulations are placed on the published version of the barred list for five years, though there are exemptions, for example again where publication might prejudice an investigation or other criminal or civil proceedings.
"Regulations state clearly the requirement to publish the outcomes of misconduct hearings, but it will be for the local police force to manage how long information is published for."