Wiltshire Police working hard to ensure high standards in officers
Police conduct has been under intense scrutiny in recent years
Last updated 25th Jul 2024
A leading officer at Wiltshire Police has told us that they're doing everything they can to keep policing standards within the organisation as high as possible.
Police conduct has been under intense scrutiny in the last few years following the crimes of Wayne Couzens and David Carrick - who lived in Wiltshire.
Current Deputy Chief Constable (DCC) Craig Dibdin, told us the enquiries after those cases had led to recommendations that holding police officers and staff to the highest standards is imperative.
"The slightest incident has the chance to impact on the trust and confidence of the public who expect us to be upholding the high standards," he said.
DCC Dibdin added: "If we don't do it then the impact is on our is on our legitimacy and policing's legitimacy locally and nationally and for us to be successful and effective, especially in Wiltshire and Swindon, we have to have the confidence of the trust and trust of the public."
The DCC told us it's on each officer and staff member in policing to 'uphold and role model the highest standards of behaviour', saying it's led by Chief Constable Catherine Roper and her deputies.
He said mechanisms are in place for people within the organisation to report behaviour that fall below the expected standard - something he takes time to emphasise.
DCC Dibdin said: "After every incident of gross misconduct against police officers and police staff, especially when they're receiving a final written warning or dismissal, I will send a message out every time given the circumstances of the case and reminding our staff why that's important, why those circumstances met the outcome that they did."
'We reflect society'
Last week, an officer at Wiltshire Police was dismissed AND placed on the barred list - preventing him from working in policing again. Since 2021, 13 officers working in Wiltshire have lost their jobs and been banned from future police work.
DCC Dibdin said that 13 is too many but that as policing represents society, there's a strong likelihood of people being hired that don't exhibit signs of being unsuitable at the time.
He said: "There's always going to be people, I think in our organisation or any organisation of our size with two and a half thousand people, who make bad decisions or aren't suitable to be in the role they're in, and we just either missed it or they got through the system because there it wasn't known at the time. And I think we've got to accept that.
"But in accepting that, we also need to make sure that our systems of recruiting and vetting are as good as they can be."
DCC Dibdin added that 13 people dismissed and barred from police work does show that the force's misconduct reporting processes are working as it's being spotted when it's there to be found.
He said the goal is to reach zero dismissals by getting the workforce right.
While there's an internal method for officers and staff to raise issues, members of the public also have a way to voice their concerns.
We can do this through the Wiltshire Police website to make a complaint, or through the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, and there's also CrimeStoppers, should we want to remain anonymous.