No action taken in nine in 10 allegations against Nottinghamshire Police officers

Police behaviour and misconduct processes have fallen under the spotlight once again after it emerged serving Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick – who admitted a string of sexual offences and rapes spanning two decades – faced no misconduct action or criminal sanctions despite coming to the attention of the force on several occasions.

Home Office figures show 2,242 misconduct allegations were made against Nottinghamshire Police officers and handled under the formal complaints process in the year to April 2022.

Of these, 2,033, 91 per cent, resulted in no action being required against the police officers involved.

Just eight allegations were referred to official misconduct proceedings and 59 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 allegations of misconduct. They do not cover any complaints handled outside the formal process, where it was felt a detailed enquiry was not needed.

Deputy Chief Constable Steve Cooper said: “Nottinghamshire Police take every complaint against the force and our staff extremely seriously.

“In March 2022, His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, conducted an independent inspection of Nottinghamshire Police to examine the effectiveness of the force’s response to vetting and counter-corruption.

“It was reassuring the inspectorate rated us as good, with only one area for improvement, which we have now addressed.

“That said, we are not complacent and will continually look to improve the service we offer and people can always complain through our website or by calling 101.

“The force regularly rejects applicants and dismiss those staff who badly let down the public and their colleagues.

“From April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, the force has dismissed 12 officers following misconduct hearings, the majority for honesty and integrity matters. This shows how seriously we take any incidents that affect our reputation.

“The public can have trust and confidence in the procedures we have to ensure our officers and staff meet the high standards expected.”

Home Office figures show 148 allegations of "conduct matter" offences against Nottinghamshire officers in 2021-22 – those which are not the subject of a complaint and indicate an officer may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a way that would justify disciplinary proceedings.

​Of them, 57 were referred to official proceedings and 16 to the reflective practice review process. No action was required in 54 cases​.

A further 29 “recordable conduct matter” allegations were made, where it is alleged an officer's conduct resulted in the death or serious injury of any person, with no action in 16 cases and 13 were referred to misconduct proceedings.

Notinghamshire Police said every member of staff was audited in December to ensure they had the correct vetting level for their role, while it has volunteered to be a pilot force for the Independent Office for Police Conduct in implementing recommendations around “reflective practice”.

Across England and Wales, 87,786 allegations were made against police officers and handled under the formal complaints process in 2021-22, with 88 per cent requiring no action.