Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary police officers suspended over sexual allegations
TWENTY-THREE Hampshire and Isle of Wight police officers are suspended on full pay due to sexual allegations.
The revelation was made by the county’s police and crime commissioner Donna Jones at a meeting of the crime and police panel, writes Nicola Forero of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Police behaviour has been under the spotlight since the murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens last year, and has intensified with the recent conviction of fellow Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick for nine counts of rape.
Last week news broke that 98 police officers in Greater Manchester have been accused of sex offences, and the Home Office has asked police forces to check their staff.
Mrs Jones said: "In 2022 the number of sexual allegations increased in the whole country, which is not acceptable."
She added: "Victims of police abuse are treated in a very special way. They are offered additional protection to not feel intimidated.
"We have an anti-corruption team where colleagues can report officers anonymously. Some of them are not feeling confident reporting through the intranet but I always offer different ways to report confidentially.
"There is still much work to do."
Home Office figures show 1,938 misconduct allegations were made against Hampshire Constabulary officers and handled under the formal complaints process in the year to April 2022.
Of these, 1,867 (96%) resulted in no action being required.
Just five allegations were referred to official misconduct proceedings and 34 were referred to the reflective practice review process – when an officer’s behaviour falls short of expectations but does not amount to misconduct.
The figures cover the total number of allegations rather than the number of complaints; one complaint could contain several claims of misconduct.
They do not cover any complaints handled outside the formal process, where it was felt a detailed enquiry was not needed.
