No action taken in most allegations against North Yorkshire Police

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MORE than four in five formal allegations against police officers in North Yorkshire resulted in no action last year, but forces said they take allegations of misconduct “extremely seriously”.

Home Office figures show that 740 allegations were made against North Yorkshire police officers – and dealt with through the formal complaints process – in the year to April 2022. Among these- ci, 617, or 83%, resulted in no action being taken against the police officers involved. .

The data shows that five of the allegations were referred to a formal misconduct process and seven were referred to the reflective practices review process when an officer’s behavior falls short of expectations but does not constitute misconduct.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said the force takes allegations of misconduct “extremely seriously” and officers are acutely aware of the serious damage done to trust in the police service by the recent events of the Metropolitan Police.

These include the case of Officer Wayne Couzens, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2021 kidnapping, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, of York, and Officer David Carrick, who pleaded guilty to dozens of rapes and sexual offenses committed against 12 women. while a serving officer in the Metropolitan Police.

Wayne Couzens was sentenced to life imprisonment for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Sarah Everard, of York, in 2021. Photo: PA (Image: PA)

The spokesman said: “The force has taken a number of steps to improve its already robust vetting process to weed out people who are unfit to serve.

“North Yorkshire Police are one of the few forces that deal with complaints independently through the Office of Police Fire and Crime Commissioners to provide an extra level of scrutiny.

“The force recently ran a nationwide pilot program which checks all vetted personnel against the National Police Database (PND) every month. This covers both police officers and police personnel.”

A recent report by Her Majesty’s Inspection of the Constabulary Fire and Rescue Service following an inspection of auditing, misconduct and misogyny in the police service, highlighted the good work of North Yorkshire Police and recommended that all forces make regular use of the PND.

The police spokesperson added: “The vast majority of our officers and staff are honest, hardworking and act with integrity. But we are not complacent and know there will be a number within our forces that will not be.When a fault is found, we will take action.

“It is important to note the difference between a complaint and misconduct. The definition of a complaint is any dissatisfaction with the police service.

“The 740 allegations relate to a number of different scenarios and there could be more than one complaint relating to an incident and may involve multiple officers.

“These complaints range from low-level issues such as an officer may not have updated a victim or witness or behaved in a way that the complainant says was rude, to more serious allegations such as alleged abuse of police powers or excessive use of compel.

“The misconduct is much more serious. It is a breach of professional standards so serious that it warrants disciplinary action.”

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