Vetting Process in UK Police Force - Failures and the Need for Improvement
Scandals and cases of sexual misconduct within the UK police force have dominated headlines in recent months. The surge in criminal charges against police officers by 590% since 2012 is alarming, with many cases involving sexual offenses and misconduct.
This has brought to light the need for better vetting and background checks.
While the current vetting process and background checks used for police officers do include checks of criminal records and employment history, they fail to account for other factors that could be indicative of problematic behaviour.
Failure to vet properly
A failure to carry out comprehensive screening has contributed to the creation of a culture of misogyny and sexual misconduct within certain police forces. This has been highlighted by recent cases of officers committing sexual offenses and accused of misconduct.
According to Matt Parr, HM Inspector of Constabulary, "there was a real problem with misogyny within the police that had to be tackled…” adding that “…most, if not all, serving female police officers had had to endure sexual assault and inappropriate behaviour from fellow officers".
The revelation that such a toxic culture was commonplace in the police has had a ripple effect throughout society. Public trust in the police has been severely impacted. Recent figures show that around 50% of the UK have little or no confidence in their ability to combat crime.
Unsurprisingly, this number is significantly lower amongst women. A poll of 2000 women, carried out by Good Morning Britain, revealed that only 11% of women felt they could completely trust the police.
This lack of trust ultimately impacts the safety of individuals. If people feel unable to report crimes and trust the police, then it’s likely that many people will choose to suffer in silence.
As Parr said, "the culture of misogyny within policing is something that is there, it’s real and it has absolutely got to be dealt with”. The lack of effective vetting and background checks has contributed to this culture, and has allowed unsuitable individuals to join the police force.
Strengthening Police Vetting
It’s clear that the vetting and background check process for police officers and staff needs to be strengthened. It has become abundantly apparent that the last few decades of lax vetting have contributed to a police force that cannot be trusted.
The Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, believes that stricter vetting rules must be introduced. This includes implementing national standards for vetting and background checks, and expanding the scope of the checks to include social media activity and personal relationships.
Rowley also believes that no one should be able to serve in the police if they have any convictions or cautions on their records. Speaking to LBC, he said:
“The guidance from the College of Policing around vetting gives quite a bit of flexibility. The opportunity for redemption does have to be there, but we've been too flexible.
"Anything involving domestic abuse or sexual offending, I think that should be an absolute bar. There might be other offences where we need to show a bit more flexibility.
"So if someone 15 years ago as a young person stole a Mars Bar from a corner shop, that probably shouldn't be an absolute bar, but most criminal convictions and cautions I think should be a barrier to joining the police.”
The current rules mean that officers that are accused of misconduct or other crimes are incredibly difficult to remove from the force. In some cases, officers who are sacked are reinstated by independent lawyers following a review.
Are the police moving in the right direction?
The lack of effective vetting and background checks in the police has severely impacted public trust. It is going to take decades of work to repair the damage that has been done.
As Sir Mark Rowley said, "We have made significant progress in just 6 months. I recognise the scale of the damage to public trust that has taken place and the significant work we still have to do in order to restore it."
His sentiments were echoed by the chair of London's Police and Crime Committee, Susan Hall. She said Sir Mark's findings showed that "things are going to get much worse before they get better".
Victims of abuse, perpetrated by serving police officers, see the work being done to rectify the problems in the police as positive first steps. One victim, abused in the 90s by a serving officer, spoke to the BBC about the progress the Met is making.
In her interview, she stated that she believed the Met are heading in the right direction. Commenting, she said:
"I do think that if the public can see that people are being sacked or they're being held to account for what they've done, we can move that forward, but it's a huge task to undertake."
In January, the Met announced plans to recheck staff accused of domestic abuse and sexual violence in the 10 years to April 2022.
Of 1,131 individuals reinvestigated:
246 will face no formal action because correct action was taken at the time
689 will undergo a new assessment to pursue new or missed lines of inquiry, including possibly talking again to victims and witnesses
196 face formal risk management measures and potentially a review to determine if they should remain in the force
All of these cases will be reassessed by an independent panel of experts.