No action taken in nearly nine in 10 allegations against Bedfordshire Police officers

Nearly nine in 10 formal allegations against Bedfordshire Police officers resulted in no misconduct action last year, new figures show.

Police behaviour and misconduct processes have fallen under the spotlight once again after it emerged that serving Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick – who admitted to 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 1,073 misconduct allegations were made against Bedfordshire Police officers and handled under the formal complaints process in the year to April 2022.

Of these, 944 (88%) resulted in no action being required against the police officers involved.

A further 42 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 complaints handled outside the formal process, where it was felt a detailed enquiry was not needed.

David Carrick pleaded guilty to 49 offences against at least a dozen women – including 24 counts of rape. He was only suspended in October 2021 after being arrested over a second rape complaint.

The Met apologised to victims after it was revealed he came to the attention of police over nine incidents, including allegations of rape, domestic violence and harassment.

The Home Office figures show there were 76 allegations of "conduct matter" offences against Bedfordshire Police officers in 2021-22 – those which are not the subject of a complaint and indicate that an officer may have committed a criminal offence or behaved in a way that would justify disciplinary proceedings.

Of them, 12 were referred to official misconduct proceedings and 38 were referred to the reflective practice review process. No action was required in 21 cases.

A further 18 "recordable conduct matter" allegations were made, where it is alleged that an officer's conduct resulted in the death or serious injury of any person.

A decision that no action was required was determined in five cases, while two were referred to misconduct proceedings and nine were referred to the reflective practice review process.

Bedfordshire’s chief constable Trevor Rodenhurst said: “The horrendous actions of David Carrick has sent shockwaves through policing and we feel as sickened as the public who rightly expect the highest standards of integrity from us. The vast majority of our officers and staff go the extra mile every day to keep the public safe, but cases such as this undermine that effort and erode trust and confidence which is why we are working relentlessly to identify and root out anyone who betrays those expectations.

“We have invested heavily in improving our culture and encourage our workforce to call out concerns about colleagues at an early stage, particularly in relation to any form of violence against women and girls, which remains a key focus for us to tackle.

“That has resulted in three officers being dismissed for gross misconduct in the past 12 months, and a further three would have faced the same consequence had they not already resigned.”