Kettle calling pot, come in pot.....

If I were to ask you to define what the characteristics of a police man and woman should be, what would you say? Can I assume that you would state that they should keep the law? That they should be honest and above board in the execution of all their duties? I can almost hear some of you snickering sarcastically as if these are utterly ridiculous expectations of our boys and girls in blue!

Now, no one in this country is naive; we have all seen and read chilling accounts of police corruption, racism and brutality throughout the years. All of these things exploded powerfully into the public’s consciousness with the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 by five racist youths; an inquiry into the murder led to no convictions being brought against them primarily because of the incomprehensible, some say deliberate, incompetence of the police throughout the investigation. These issues led to the writing of the McPherson Report which, after investigation, concluded that the Metropolitan Police Service is “institutionally racist.”

Even allowing for all the disturbing reports, it was still shocking to learn that out of 144,000 serving police officers in England and Wales, 1,063 of these have received criminal records while in active duty. The data, obtained by the Liberal Democrats under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act, include 59 convictions for assault, 36 for theft and 96 for dishonesty. Other offences include battery, fraud, perverting the course of justice and forgery. What is especially alarming is that, once these officers have been convicted by a panel/jury of their peers for deliberately breaking the very law they are supposed to up hold, they are being allowed to keep their jobs. How in all good conscience can they arrest someone for the same crimes they have committed? The words pot, kettle and black spring to mind.

Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said:

"It is staggering that so many of the people entrusted to protect us from crime have criminal convictions themselves. It is even more worrying that so many police officers convicted of serious crimes involving dishonesty or violence have been allowed to keep their jobs. The public entrust the police with the use of legal force precisely because they are self-disciplined and restrained, which is why anyone convicted of a violent offence should be dismissed. I cannot see how a police officer convicted of dishonesty can perform their duty effectively.

"The trust that is absolutely vital in policing is seriously undermined when police officers are being convicted of crimes of dishonesty. Allowing police officers convicted of offences of violence or dishonesty to continue serving merely brings the vast majority of law-abiding and diligent officers into disrepute."

Amazingly, whilst there are vetting procedures for dealing with new applicants, there are no Home Office guidelines for dealing with officers committing offences while serving.

Data obtained which covers 41 of the 52 forces show a further 247 officers have either resigned or been suspended because of their convictions.
According to the figures, the forces with the highest number of police with convictions are the Metropolitan police with 274, West Midlands with 121 and Strathclyde (Scotland), 107.

Interestingly, Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester and head of workforce development for The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said:
"Where an officer has committed misconduct, which can include a criminal offence, a range of disciplinary actions can be taken. Each case is judged on its merit. The force concerned will then take action depending on a range of factors including the severity of the offence and its impact on an officer's ability to carry out their duties."

I totally disagree. If as a custodian of the law you willfully break it knowing full well the penalties of your actions, you should be dismissed from the force. Full stop.