Scotland Yard Failed to Sack Officers With Serious Misconduct Against Immigrants
Britain’s biggest police force failed to sack officers found to have committed serious misconduct, including accessing a confidential database to find details about an ex-partner and assaulting an interviewee.
Scotland Yard disciplined 42 officers and staff in the first two months of this year, among them a police constable who was fired for engaging in online paedophile activity.
However, 15 of those brought before a misconduct hearing escaped with either a written warning or a formal reprimand.
These included a constable who made false vehicle check entries on the police national computer to get information about a former partner’s address, a community support officer who was unfit for duty because of alcohol consumption, and a civilian employee who committed criminal damage.
Last year a detective constable was given a final written warning but allowed to keep his job after becoming aggressive during an interview and assaulting the person they were questioning.
Another constable escaped dismissal for corrupt practice after producing their warrant card in an attempt to escape prosecution for a speeding offence.
In 2012 the Metropolitan Police held 232 misconduct hearings, resulting in 96 officers and staff being sacked.
Those fired included constables who tried to gain free entry to a nightclub, gambled on duty, supplied fireworks to under-age children, were convicted of distributing child abuse images, held a former partner’s 10-year-old child in a headlock, ate food in a supermarket without paying, and stole handbags from a club in Wimbledon.
Scotland Yard today for the first time released details of officers and civilian staff who went before misconduct panels and the outcomes of their cases.
The force said in a statement: “The Metropolitan Police Service has over 30,000 police officers and over 5,000 special constables, the vast majority of whom perform their duties to a high standard.
“The MPS is committed to delivering a professional service and we expect our employees to behave professionally and with the utmost integrity at all times, whether on or off duty.”
By Sam MarsdenTelegraph.co.uk
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